The presence of cars in urban public spaces dramatically detracts from the availability and usefulness of those spaces for social interactions and for individual restful activities. Would excluding cars from existing urban public spaces and from newly designed neighbourhoods and districts strengthen the social fabric of cities? Does it enhance the physical and mental health of city dwellers and visitors?
The Carfree Cities Alliance is timing its 2019 International launch of its alliance with Amsterdam’s We Make the City Festival. During this launch, video messages from events in other locations will be shown. This includes especially Bangladesh, where the Dhaka based organization Institute for Wellbeing is providing support and organizational structure.
- Cornelia Dinca – Moderator
- Piper Hollier – Editor, translator and Carfree Cities Alliance member
- Justin Hyatt – Mobility Expert and Carfree Cities Alliance coordinator
- Jorn Wemmenhove – Urbanist and creative strategist
- Servaz van Berkum – Programme developer
- Luca Bertolini – Professor of Urban and Regional Planning
- Rauno Andreas Fuchs – Strategy advisor and CEO of Green City Experience
- Reyhan Safari – Sustainable Mobility Consultant, MOVE Mobility
- Ruxandra Aelenei – Urban Planner, MOVE Mobility
- Maurits de Lint – Student and deputy member of the Haarlem City Council
- Luud Schimmelpennink – Initiator ‘de Nieuwe Witkar’
- Marjolein de Lange – Mobility expert for bicycling, walking and road safety
- Stephan Slingerland – Senior consultant at Trinomics
- Tycho Smit – Consultant at Trinomics
This event will be in English
PROGRAMME
This afternoon is moderated by Cornelia Dinca. After every block of presentations, a panel discussion with questions from the audience is provided. Throughout the afternoon we are also treated to video presentations from other parts of the world. We close off with the official international launch of the Carfree Cities Alliance.
Introduction and keynote
13:30-14:30
Piper Hollier will provide a succinct overview of carfree cities. Piper and Justin Hyatt will provide answers to all sorts of questions, like: How does carfree really work? Do we want to make the whole world carfree? What is the Carfree Cities Alliance?
PANEL 1 – Carfree Visions, Carfree solutions
14:00-14:45
Here we take a deeper step into the world of carfree and sustainable mobility solutions. Luca Bertolini shares his insights from living in a carfree neighborhood in Amsterdam and considers solutions gained. Rauno Fuchs of Green Cities in Munich talks about how a city which is frequently awarded the label “most livable city in the world” can improve even more and Jorn Wemmenhove explains what happy streets are.
Coffee and tea break
14.45 – 15.05
Presenting the Carfree Cities Alliance (CCA)
15:05-15:15
Justin Hyatt lays out the exciting plans of the Carfree Cities Alliance, letting everyone know about bold future plans but also filling in the audience on the predecessor of CCA, namely the World Carfree Network, which can claim a proud history.
PANEL 2 – Cities, Climate, Air – Unplugging our lungs
15:15- 15:45
How does the wider array of urban and social problems connect to the carfree vision? The link to climate change is provided by young climate campaigner Maurits de Lint, while Stephan Slingerland presents the Clair City contribution to mitigating air pollution. Luud Schimmelpenninck presents his pioneering mobility solutions that were once way ahead of their time.
PANEL 3 – Bottom-up initiatives and alliance building
15:45 – 16:10
There are numerous individual initiatives and ground-breaking programmes being launched these days. We look to how we can build alliances and become more effective by joining forces and unleashing our creative potential. Marjolein de Lange presents the historic gains for cycling that Fietsersbond has scored as well as a showcase of their new book. Reyhan Safari and Ruxandra Aelenei present further mobility initiatives as well as provide glimpses of what is hip and happening in Iran and Romania.
THE LAUNCH OF CCA
16:10-16:30
We’ve saved the best for last. The final part of the day allows all participants to be present for the historic launch of Carfree Cities Alliance. Servaz van Berkum kicks this off by dishing out local perspective and the significance of Amsterdam for a carfree universe. Justin Hyatt then leads us to a launch position, as we get the Carfree Cities Alliance officially off the ground!
