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The Planetizen News Brief

21 August 2008 - 4:00am
Smart City Radio

The Planetizen News Brief is a weekly rundown of some of the most interesting and important news and issues of the past week.

The Planetizen News Brief airs every week on the nationally-syndicated radio program "Smart City", which is broadcast in cities across the U.S. Learn more about Smart City and listen to archived shows.

Full Transcript

As the Summer Olympics wind down in Beijing, local business owners are expressing disappointment over what they see as a missed economic opportunity. The city has estimated that more than 2 million tourists would come to town for the games, but early figures put the actual number at just 600,000. According to a recent article in The Christian Science Monitor, local business people have been fuming over China’s foreign visa policies, which they say have kept many people out of the country. These strict policies have even caused Chinese citizens not from Beijing to leave the city during the event. Hotel operators are especially miffed, as the expected boon of the Olympics inspired construction of more than 300 additional hotels since 2001. But with fewer visitors than expected, many of the city’s hotel rooms sit empty. Though many local business people are already complaining about the lackluster economic effects of the Olympics, government tourism officials don’t plan to release any figures until after the games are over.

Temporary traffic bans and control measures are another way the Chinese government is attempting to manipulate Beijing during the Olympics. Reuters reports that the city government had instituted a three-month limitation on cars driving in the city in an effort to improve its notoriously poor air quality during the games. Depending on a car’s license plate number, it is banned from driving in the city on alternate days between July 20 and September 20. And though the move has made driving in the city safer and played a role in slightly improving air quality, officials say the temporary ban will end as scheduled. And though the government is hoping the ban will result in an increase in the number of people using public transit, the actual totals are expected to drop off when the car ban is lifted September 20th.

Meanwhile, cities across the planet are experimenting with their own car bans. Following the lead of Bogota, Colombia’s weekly temporary street closures known as ciclovia, cities like New York, London, San Francisco and Paris are all instituting their own temporary car bans. Portland, Oregon closed a large section of streets in June, bringing thousands of pedestrians, bikers and strollers out to the event. San Francisco plans to close a six-mile section of road at the end of August, and New York City has scheduled three Saturdays of street closures. Advocates for public spaces are applauding these efforts by cities, saying the simple events do more than just bring people out onto the street for a few hours, but actually change their perception of what a street is for and what it means to live in a lively city.

And in Seattle, residents are looking to take back control of their streets. Not with feel-good daylong events, but with speed bumps. The Seattle Times reports that residents in the city’s NewHolly neighborhood became so concerned about drivers speeding through their streets they teamed up to get the city to install some traffic calming measures. The city refused their request, citing studies that show average speeds below the threshold for installing speed bumps. So neighbors pooled funds, took the law into their own hands, and bought eight rubberized speed bumps online for $900 and installed them on their streets. Six weeks later the city came in and removed them, much to the dismay of citizens. The city claims that more street signs are being purchased and that a traffic circle is planned for one of the neighborhood’s busiest intersections, work that is expected to cost $15,000. Though residents are happy the city is planning to do something, they say their traffic is a $15,000 problem they’d already solved with $900 worth of speedbumps.

Stories discussed in this week's Planetizen News Brief

Olympic Games Not Performing For Beijing Businesses

China Says Car Bans Will Stop After Olympics

The Spread of Ciclovia

Stymied by City, Community Installs Own Speed Bumps

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