Cycling Advocates Network (CAN) is calling on all cyclists to hit the roads on Tuesday 22nd September 2009 as part of a global event where people take a holiday from their cars. CAN calls on people to go by cycle, foot, bus or train instead of driving - starting with just this one day.
Since its earliest incarnations in the 1970s and ‘80s, WORLD CARFREE DAY has grown into a massive global celebration of human-centric communities and people-powered transportation. The day reminds people that cycling is healthy, convenient, quick, cheap, stylish, very social and lots of fun. World Carfree Day 2009 could turn out to be the biggest yet.
As the world tunes in to the fact that the climate is heating up, this is the perfect opportunity to take the heat off the planet, and put it on city planners and politicians to give priority to cycling, walking and public transport, instead of oil-hungry automobiles.
In New Zealand, cycling on World Carfree Day also shows how many Kiwis would welcome the chance to ride the Great New Zealand Cycle Way and use its related amenities. It’s a show of strength for cycling.
So go carfree on Tuesday 22nd September, and then carry on being carfree in your everyday life. Let's make the World Carfree Day a showcase for just how our cities might look, feel, and sound without cars – 365 days a year.
Comments
World Carfree Day 22 September 2009
More here: http://www.worldcarfree.net/wcfd/
Every September 22, people from around the world get together in the streets, intersections, and neighbourhood blocks to remind the world that we don't have to accept our car-dominated society.
But we do not want just one day of celebration and then a return to "normal" life. When people get out of their cars, they should stay out of their cars. It is up to us, it is up to our cities, and our governments to help create permanent change to benefit pedestrians, cyclists, and other people who do not drive cars.
Let World Carfree Day be a showcase for just how our cities might look like, feel like, and sound like without cars…365 days a year.
As the climate heats up, World Carfree Day is the perfect time to take the heat off the planet, and put it on city planners and politicians to give priority to cycling, walking and public transport, instead of to the automobile.
So take the time, browse the links and resources provided, and join in on the celebrations!
Wellington film: Notes on a New Zealand City
Notes on a New Zealand City
* Special Presentation
* 22 September 2009, 12:15pm
* New Zealand Community Trust mediatheatre, Wellington
Notes on a New Zealand City, New Zealand, 1971
Written and directed by Paul Maunder
Production co: NZ National Film Unit
Producers: Geoffrey Scott and Ronal Bowie
Photography: John Phillpotts and Dale Pomeroy
Sound: John Reid
Historical photographs courtesy of the Alexander Turnbull Library
With: William Sutch, Ian Athfield and others
DV (originally 16mm), B&W, sound, 40 minutes
“It is an indication of the influence of the motor vehicle, that it makes us take stock of things, even to the extent of asking what sort of lives we want to lead.” From the sprawling suburbs surrounding our cities we commute to work. To house us and our cars by day, more buildings rise until the city of Wellington starts to build itself out. How can our urban environment be made more live-able?
In the early 1970s the National Film Unit produced a short series of documentaries exploring aspects of the history and experience of living in New Zealand urban environments, large and small. In Notes on a New Zealand City the focus is on the impact of the growth and spread of the population on the transport and associated infrastructure needs of the capital city, Wellington. Keen observers of the current, and often heated, debate on public vs private transport solutions to the city’s needs will find many of the same issues just as vigorously argued in this film made almost 40 years ago!