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Movement: how to take back our streets and transform our lives

Movement: how to take back our streets and transform our lives

  • Downloads：2335
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2022-08-08 09:51:44
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Thalia Verkade
  • ISBN：1911344978
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

Our dependence on cars is damaging our health — and the planet’s。 Movement asks radical questions about how we approach the biggest urban problem， reflecting on the apparent successes of Dutch cities。

Making our communities safer， cleaner， and greener starts with asking the fundamental question: who do our streets belong to？

Although there have been experiments in decreasing traffic in city centres， and an increase in bike-friendly infrastructure in the UK， there is still a long way to go。

In this enlightening and provocative book， Thalia Verkade and Marco te Brömmelstroet confront their own underlying beliefs and challenge us to rethink our ideas about transport to put people at the centre of urban design。

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Reviews

Robin Greatbatch ，

Although naturally distancing myself from car travel， and more to cycling， this book has revolutionised the way I think about land and how we use it。 It is a sobering reminder that although we have grown up segregated from vehicle traffic - always being the second priority and not the first - that the idea streets should be used for getting from A to B is still in its infancy。It is the role of the fast and dangerous machine drivers to patience themselves and yield to the soft squishy humans on f Although naturally distancing myself from car travel， and more to cycling， this book has revolutionised the way I think about land and how we use it。 It is a sobering reminder that although we have grown up segregated from vehicle traffic - always being the second priority and not the first - that the idea streets should be used for getting from A to B is still in its infancy。It is the role of the fast and dangerous machine drivers to patience themselves and yield to the soft squishy humans on feet and cyclists whilst they move from A to B， but better yet our streets could become places to live in and to enjoy rather than being mere ways to a destination。The book is empowering and provides much data， anecdote， interview， image， and argument to show an alternative， safer， greener， and plainly more enjoyable way of transforming the land we are used to calling 'roads'。It's a short book and is easy to read， but I do wish there had been more links to studies and more data extrapolated to make a stronger case in some chapters。 However， this criticism does not dilute the already present arguments and data in the book。 。。。more

Jim Densham ，

The Netherlands isn't quite the cycling utopia we all thought it was。 Like the UK it has problems with road safety and the dominance of car use caused by the way roads and towns have been designed over the years。 This is a jounalist's experience of delving into the topic and changing her perceptions。 The Netherlands isn't quite the cycling utopia we all thought it was。 Like the UK it has problems with road safety and the dominance of car use caused by the way roads and towns have been designed over the years。 This is a jounalist's experience of delving into the topic and changing her perceptions。 。。。more

Ellis Sharp ，

Brilliant book that really helped to bring the way I’m feeling about public spaces to life。 Lots of academic resources， ways that you can genuinely make a difference and examples of why our streets and public spaces have succumbed to spaces simply for ‘fast-flowing traffic’。 It’s the best book I’ve read this year

Gaby ，

Really well written and compelling book on the place of people in public spaces。 Rethinking language and framing as a result of this book and hope to help enact change to improve my neighborhood and city。

Nathan ，

How is your city building？Is your city trading lives for seconds on the road？ Or even worse， for money？ Is it awful to be on the sidewalk？ Are you terrified for your kids that want to ride bikes on the street？If that resonates with you too， then this is a great book。 The Dutch are world leaders in building liveable cities and far from being dry， this book is packed with heart。Remember， humans are nature too。

Thomas Verschoren ，

Car free。 Care free。

Boots ，

This is an English translation of a Dutch book that was published this year。 It’s about mobility or urban planning， but what makes it really interesting is that is doesn’t start with the same axiom that most other arguments do， i。e。 with “Given that we want to get from A to B as fast and efficiently as possible…”。 Rather， the book questions whether that should even be the starting point。 It’s set up in a “where are we， how did we get here， where are we going， and what could we do” order， which w This is an English translation of a Dutch book that was published this year。 It’s about mobility or urban planning， but what makes it really interesting is that is doesn’t start with the same axiom that most other arguments do， i。e。 with “Given that we want to get from A to B as fast and efficiently as possible…”。 Rather， the book questions whether that should even be the starting point。 It’s set up in a “where are we， how did we get here， where are we going， and what could we do” order， which works really well。 。。。more

Koen ，

I have read this awesome book in Dutch。 It is a sweet treat to read and a red pill kind of treat。 It will make you doubt your thruths。 It has greatly changed my view of the world around me in that it has changed something in me。 Before reading this book， I was assuming it is very important to think about different solutions that we disagree with each other about。 But this book shows that we need to question the problems themselves。 By asking different questions， we can see and make a different w I have read this awesome book in Dutch。 It is a sweet treat to read and a red pill kind of treat。 It will make you doubt your thruths。 It has greatly changed my view of the world around me in that it has changed something in me。 Before reading this book， I was assuming it is very important to think about different solutions that we disagree with each other about。 But this book shows that we need to question the problems themselves。 By asking different questions， we can see and make a different world。The book is specifically about the role of mobility in the public space and how that has acquired a specific interpretation， which was different and could also be different。 We are now often guided by norms and values， a complete language even that is about efficiency and flow。 And so streets where people used to walk， hang out， talk， dance and act have now turned into sidewalks， bike lanes， roads through which "traffic" must flow in the most frictionless way possible。 We and our political representation often see our common outdoors through traffic engineering glasses， we think with traffic engineering logic。The authors nicely show that this traffic logic did not just happen and it does not just happen by itself。 Through Marshall Aid， there was a tough lobby by car manufacturers， oil producers， tire manufacturers and road builders to get this done。 People who wanted to keep the streets for people fought against this and in the Netherlands they fortunately succeeded to some extent， but the fight for this has also been forgotten （and swept away）。Why is it so difficult to make our streets more human？ The logic of traffic engineering is maintained because we almost no longer see that we are looking through traffic engineering glasses。 The construction of roads， the design of public spaces， the installation of traffic lights， speed bumps， kiss-and-rides， is no longer a political choice， but an elaboration of following guidelines， protocols and formulas that determine what， when， where is adapted。There is no longer any thought about what you want with the street， because that question does not arise at all。 The problems are already defined and the solutions come from experts。 We allow ourselves to be held hostage via guidelines to what was seen as a modern public space seventy years ago， while we should also be thinking about it now。Especially since the 'cost' of the system is now high。 It costs a lot of money， a lot of space， a lot of peace， but also a lot of people。 I had to cry several times at the pieces that deal with the injustice and the victims that we accept as a consequence of this system。 There is a violent slaughter going on that we are trying to mitigate by giving even more space to the most dangerous users of public space。So in concrete terms the book is about mobility， but the other way of thinking， the other way of looking at the world， is just as important for other major themes such as climate change， our school system or our health care system。 Can we see how language and models determine our reality and that we can make choices in this。The book is wonderfully written， a page-turner， an exciting journey of discovery that I read with amazement， rising indignation and sadness at what we can do to each other。 It is also very witty， with wonderful comparisons and beautiful sentences。Read it and then especially talk about it a lot。 It is an important book。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Movement: how to take back our streets and transform our lives

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Movement: how to take back our streets and transform our lives&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Movement: how to take back our streets and transform our lives&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0