What if walking, bicycling and public transport, instead of roads and highways, were at the heart of urban life? What if we started evaluating our cities based on a simple “8 80” rule: ensuring the safety and joy of children and older adults (from 8 year olds to 80 year olds) are at the forefront of our decision-making? How can we improve the quality of life for people of all ages amidst large demographic shifts? Gil Penalosa and Caroline Shaw talked about these questions at our seminar.
Gil Penalosa demonstrated how putting pedestrians first can be a powerful tool in addressing our most important global challenges. Caroline Shaw presented results from the recently completed report Benchmarking cycling and walking in six New Zealand cities: Pilot study 2015. This compared the infrastructure, funding and policies to promote walking and cycling of our largest cities and the rates of cycling and walking, safety and health of their inhabitants.
Caroline Shaw is a public health medicine specialist and epidemiologist at the Department of Public Health, University of Otago Wellington. She researches how good transport policies can improve health, the environment and the economy, as well as create dynamic and enjoyable places to live. Caroline is also interested in the interface between policy and epidemiology and has undertaken research in the ethnic and socio-economic determinants of health, cancer control, population screening and obesity prevention.
This was a joint event between NZ Centre for Sustainable Cities, Wellington City Council and Living Streets Aotearoa held on 5 July 2016.
