Bicycle Diaries: Vauban not autobahn

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21.12.06

Vauban not autobahn

new urbanism outside Freiburg

USA Today ran an article Tuesday on a new neighborhood district that is a green, bike-friendly co-operative. To promote the privileges of car-free living, local authorities and urban planners have banned cars within Vauban.

Instead, there is a good public transport and a convenient car sharing system. About 40% of the households have agreed to live without a car altogether. This has also greatly reduced the number of cars parked on the periphery of the neighborhood.

Here is an excerpt.
Welcome to Germany's best-known environmentally friendly neighborhood and a successful experiment in green urban living. The Vauban development — 2,000 new homes on a former military base 10 minutes by bike from the heart of Freiburg — has put into practice many ideas that were once dismissed as eco-fantasy but which are now moving to the center of public policy.

With gas prices well above $6 per gallon across much of the continent, Vauban is striking a chord in Western Europe as communities encourage people to be less car-dependent. Just this week, Paris unveiled a new electric tram in a bid to reduce urban pollution and traffic congestion.
If you want more info, I highly recommend you check out the URLs embedded in the both the text and photos of this post.

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2 Comments:

Blogger gwadzilla said...

I like the idea of de-prioritizing the car

and being more sensible about the use of power

that said

I need to get my LED Christmas lights for next year

wonder if I can find them on sale?

27/12/06 11:05  
Blogger Da' Square Wheelman, said...

More info via http://www.rockyhillside.net/Blogs/index.php/2006/12/22/vauban_firsthand

27/12/06 19:50  

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