Janette Sadik-Khan (San Francisco, 1961) is a name well known to all the mayors of large cities –and their urban planning technicians– who are engaged in ensuring that pedestrians and bicycles gain more and more space on the street to the detriment of Cars. Commissioner of Transportation for New York between 2007 and 2013, during Michael Bloomberg’s time as mayor, she promoted the pacification of streets and squares in Manhattan, including Times Square, and multiplied the kilometers of bike lanes.
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Green gentrification or the challenge of sustainable cities to avoid increasing inequalities
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After her time in politics, she has become one of the best-known consultants in urban planning and sustainable mobility in the world. Since the Bloomberg Associates foundation, she has advised cities such as Athens, Rio de Janeiro, Detroit or Los Angeles. This week she has visited Barcelona to participate in the Barcelona Superblock International Conference, on the street calming strategy underway in the city.
You came to office in New York in 2007, fifteen years ago. What was mobility like in the city center back then?
As in most cities, its streets had not changed in 75 years. It was as if they had been frozen in time, like Jurassic Park, while socially, culturally and politically many other things had been transforming in the city. If we were going to make it better for its population – bearing in mind that it is expected to grow by one million people by 2030 – we needed to do something different.
What are, for you, the key decisions that an Administration must make to move towards more sustainable mobility and greener urban planning?
You have to have a plan and have people understand it. Mayor Bloomberg had that strategy, and that meant looking at the streets differently. Relocate the space, since they occupy a third of what cities are. With the population growing by 2030, we couldn’t think of accommodating them by doubling the number of traffic lanes. We had to make it easy for people to walk, cycle and use public transport. And make the streets as safe as possible. Because you’re not going to get people to stop driving if they don’t feel safe and if they don’t find it fast and attractive. Those were the policies we promoted.
Only with more bike lanes and new squares can a large-scale change in the mobility of cities like New York be achieved?
Absolutely. We created 650 kilometers of bike lanes in six years. Seven fast bus lines. New forms of mobility for 600,000 New Yorkers. 70 new places. You can move fast to change the city. All of this was good for business, for the highest level of safety in 100 years, and better for the environment. It can be done very quickly and does not require a lot of money.
What are the main resistances you encountered when doing so?
It’s a cultural change. We have conceived our cities as places to move and park cars only. In 75 years we have done nothing more than that and we have left people out. We have to return to the idea of the agora, where the city is walkable, where there is a mixture of uses. As happens here in Sant Antoni, where you see children, the elderly, young people… And cities all over the world are doing this, recovering life on the streets. And design them not only for cars weighing more than 1,000 kilos, a model that doesn’t work, that makes the streets dangerous, dirty, congested, noisy.
I asked him about the actors who are most opposed to these changes. Which ones have you come across most often? Workers who drive to work? Taxi drivers? Businessmen?
All those you cite, for example. There is a status quo that is comfortable and that believes that the streets should be like this forever.. When you change things you always generate some concern, worry. But in New York we verified in the polls that 73% of New Yorkers were in favor of the shared bike system; 72%, in favor of the places; 64%, in favor of bike lanes. It is a revolution that shows that the status quo can be changed. What is posible.
Of the critical voices, some point out that the use of cars cannot be restricted without first improving the capacity of public transport. Do you share it?
Because? You can do more than one thing at a time, right? In New York we did it at the same time and you see that they are doing it in all the cities. Mayor Hidalgo in Paris, Sadiq-Khan in London, López in Bogotá, Moore in Sydney, Plante in Montreal. Those mayors are making these transformations, which have an impact on people in the real world, and they are politicians who win elections again. Some people think that these changes are the death of a politician, and no. They are good policies.
What do you think of the idea of the city of 15 minutes?
It’s great. Thinking that you can walk, cycle and generally get around without a car is fantastic. It is an option. A lot of people like to say, ‘You’re banning cars.’ Is not true! You are promoting and prioritizing other alternatives. You are not required to have a car, now that is a tyranny! Force people to move by car. That is not equitable, nor sustainable, nor healthy.
Not having to get into the car to go to the doctor, to school, or to shop? That is freedom. Freedom is not having a car, but being able to move without it.
You who visit many cities, give me an example of an urban policy that has surprised you. Barcelona does not count.
It’s interesting to see that, for example, in Bogotá you see Mayor Claudia López basically implement superblocks. Are super islands They are doing them now in the San Felipe neighborhood. Bogotá is the Barcelona of Colombia and it is very exciting to see the mayors share their work. There are investments in shared bike systems, in express bus lines… Many in the United States work to reduce deaths and traffic accidents.
What role do children play in these changes?
The street is for them! In our team we have a person who designs the streets from his perspective, and radically changes the way you see the city. Think about how big a car is, and that they are getting bigger all the time. They create more and more blind spots that prevent children from being seen.
A negative consequence of the pacifications, in Barcelona and other cities, is gentrification. Prices skyrocket in the friendlier streets. How do you combat that?
It is very important and it is true that cities all over the world suffer from it. Building more affordable housing is key here. And for example, do not force home builders to have parking lots.
What do you think cities will be like in 2050?
I hope they are more like Barcelona with their smart superblock strategy. Or like the city of 15 minutes. Everything that puts people at the center of design. Cities that prioritize pedestrians.
