Transitioning to a sustainable city
For the benefit of all the new SustainaBundy subscribers, I'd like to mention that our group - and our website - is part of an international Relocalization Network, made up of nearly 180 groups around the world, each working towards the relocalisation of their own communities. This allows us to learn from and share information with all of the other groups in Australia and elsewhere that share our goals and have acheived their own successes. The network is a program of Post Carbon Institute. (As operations manager for Post Carbon's Global Public Media program, I am a Post Carbon Institute staff member, but because I believe so passionately in this work, all my SustainaBundy work is done on a strictly volunteer basis. )
Another Post Carbon Institute program is called Post Carbon Cities, whose aim is to prepare local governments for energy and climate uncertainty. The Post Carbon Cities Guidebook was written specifically for mayors, councillors and other key decisionmakers to help them better understand these challenges. In addition to providing a concise introduction to the issues, the guidebook also includes case studies of a number of local government responses and information on making the transition to a post carbon world.
SustainaBundy has three copies of this guidebook, which we will make available to the mayor and councillors following amalgamation. In the meantime, I welcome you to read the executive summary, the table of contents and the abridged version of the guidebook. If you're more of a video type of person, you can watch an interview with the author, Daniel Lerch, here. (transcript available too.)
There are other examples of cities that are setting the course for the sustainable future. Councillors, mayors and local members would be wise to learn from these successes:
A Convenient Truth: Urban Solutions from Curitiba, Brazil (we have ordered this film and intend to show it at our movie festival - in the meantime you can read the site and watch the trailer)
PBS' (America's Public Broadcast System) website dedicated to Curitiba's urban sustainability
Bogota, Columbia: From living hell to living well
Designing cities for people rather than cars
Bogota vs. Curitiba
SustainaBundy invites everyone to explore these examples and to continue with us the discussion of transitioning to a truly sustainable Bundaberg.
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February 7th, 2008
re: Transitioning to a sustainable city
I should also mention that the former mayor of Bogota, who in three short years completely transformed the city, is speaking in Brisbane tonight (and yesterday too). Here's another article (from Canada) about the work he did - and here's an excerpt:
"Enrique Peñalosa presided over the transition of a city that the world--and many residents--had given up on. Bogota had lost itself in slums, chaos, violence, and traffic. During his three-year term, Penalosa brought in initiatives that would seem impossible in most cities, even here in the wealthy north. He built more than a hundred nurseries for children. He built 50 new public schools and increased enrolment by 34 percent. He built a network of libraries. He created a highly-efficient, "bus highway" transit system. He built or reconstructed hundreds of kilometers of sidewalks, more than 300 kilometres of bicycle paths, pedestrian streets, and more than 1,200 parks."
February 8th, 2008
re: Transitioning to a sustainable city
I'm told that Enrique Peñalosa, the former mayor of Bogota who created a more sustainable city in just three years, will be on ABC Radio National's "By Design" this morning at 9am. It'll be repeated Wednesday at 3pm and if you miss it completely it appears that you will be able to download the audio from their website after the interview. I also found a transcript of a very short interview he did with the ABC back in 2005- read it here.
Andi Hazelwood
SustainaBundy
February 14th, 2008
re: Transitioning to a sustainable city
Last week in this discussion I mentioned that the former mayor of Bogota, Colombia would be on ABC Radio National's "By Design" talking about how he created a more sustainable city - as it turns out, it will actually air this Saturday at 9am, repeated Wednesday at 3pm. Information about the Bogota program is available here. Sorry for any confusion!
Andi Hazelwood
SustainaBundy