[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NbpFdqm54w&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0]
The video is from the always interesting Design e2 series and is about the way we can slowly go back to an urbanism that is human scaled. A city should be designed for people, not cars. Kuwait City has unfortunately developed into extreme automobile dependency. You have no choice of living an alternative lifestyle, really. I can’t walk to work like I could in London.
Walkable urbanism is not about forcing a healthy lifestyle. Rather, it helps to ignite economic growth because now transportation is not simply getting from A to B, but it’s about what happens in between. In a car you’re in a bubble. When you’re walking you can interact with people and buy stuff and enjoy life. For that to happen the public domain (sidewalks, shade, environment in general) has to be well designed and safe. Kuwait, although rich, has an impoverished public domain.
Walkable urbanism is not about forcing a healthy lifestyle. Rather, it helps to ignite economic growth because now transportation is not simply getting from A to B, but it’s about what happens in between. In a car you’re in a bubble. When you’re walking you can interact with people and buy stuff and enjoy life. For that to happen the public domain (sidewalks, shade, environment in general) has to be well designed and safe. Kuwait, although rich, has an impoverished public domain.