Jamaica urged to develop walkable cities

Former Mayor of Bogotá, Colombia Enrique Peñalosa is urging the Jamaican government to give greater consideration to utilising a people-centred approach when urbanising cities going forward.

Peñalosa, during his keynote address at the 2024 staging of The Honourable Maurice Facey Lecture, hosted by The C.B. Facey Foundation on Tuesday at the S Hotel Kingston, asserted that the development of cities must have more pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, like sidewalks that were at least five-feet wide with kerb ramps for the accessibility of wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, strollers, or for those who have mobility restrictions and find it difficult to step up and down high kerbs.

Addresing the theme ‘A City for People: Reimagining Jamaica’s Transportation System’, he further shared that “a good city, above anything else, is one where it is safe and pleasant for walking, especially for those most vulnerable citizens, for the handicapped, for the elderly, [and] for children”.

Well-designed sidewalks that were appropriately wide, furnished with suitable lighting, and lined with trees would revitalise deteriorated areas, he said, with reference to sections of downtown Kingston.

“There should never be parking bays where there should be a sidewalk. This is not alright,” he said, adding that it destroys the value of urban areas.

He also pointed to the importance of bike lanes to ensure the safety of cyclists.

To create bicycle trails, for example, along Kingston’s waterfront, would be “revolutionary”, he added.

“A bike lane is a symbol that shows a citizen on a $3,000 bicycle is equally as important as a citizen in a $3-million car,” he said.

Putting People First is the Key

The idea behind this position is to guarantee equality among all users of the road, ensuring that urbanisation does not cause people such as pedestrians and cyclists to feel inferior or excluded.

“If all citizens are equal, a pedestrian has a right to the same amount of road space as somebody in a Porsche ... if all citizens are equal, somebody on a bicycle has a right to the same amount of road space as somebody in a luxury car. If all people are equal, a bus with 100 passengers has a right to a 100 times more road space than a car with one,” he added.

Safe pedestrian pathways and bike lanes also promote healthier lifestyles by encouraging persons to walk or cycle to their destinations.

Peñalosa noted, however, that many countries would rather invest billions of dollars on wider roads, parking lots and kerbside parking for vehicles than on pedestrian infrastructure.

However, wider roadways, he said, is not a solution to traffic congestion issues.

Peñalosa, who is an international expert in urban planning and who has pioneered one of the world’s most efficient bus rapid transit (BRT) systems, TransMilenio, said what creates traffic is the number of private vehicles on the roads and the number of trips they make daily.

He went further to say that mass transit, such as buses, does not solve traffic issues either.

However, to solve traffic congestion is to restrict car use by restricting parking, he said.

“I’m sure that, in the Jamaican Constitution, there are many rights, but I’m sure that one of them is not the right to park. The fact that somebody buys a car does not give the government the obligation to find parking ... so these are political discussions [which can be had],” he said.

With regard to the development of urban highways, Peñalosa said pedestrians find it inconvenient, since they cannot cross or walk next to them, and public transportation does not use them, which decreases the value of the surrounding properties.

Although he believes that large roads are necessary, he argued that constructing boulevards is preferable to constructing highways, since boulevards have extensive sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, traffic signals, and are easily accessible by public transportation.

Peñalosa ultimately reasoned that Kingston was a “fantastic city”, and that the government has a lot of potential to make the necessary changes to transform the city into a pedestrian-friendly one.

In 1998, Peñalosa was elected as the mayor of Bogotá, a position he held until 2001. For the benefit of the 70 per cent of homes without cars, his administration launched a police campaign to clear the city sidewalks of motor vehicles.

He also played a key role in the development of a more than 300-kilometre bikeway network.

In 2015, he was elected once more for the 2016–2019 term.

asha.wilks@gleanerjm.com