Learn to value people, not cars

Imagine if aliens came to Earth. If they landed in just about any major city, they’d be forgiven for believing that people are just automotive batteries, and automobiles are the real form of life, with everything designed around their needs. housing, fuel and socializing with other automobiles on congested streets.

If the aliens landed in Dhaka, they would undoubtedly conclude that whatever dominant life form is, it is extremely fond of pollution, congestion, noise, and danger. Why else would someone design a city to maximize them all?

If, however, the aliens were lucky enough to drop by during a celebration of World Car Free Day, they might have a very different impression. Ah! People, not cars, are the main form of life. People are cheerful, sociable creatures who enjoy interacting outdoors in a friendly and safe environment. They respect the right of people on foot and by bicycle to move in complete safety. Rather than forcing people to the margins, they assign automobiles to this unenviable place.

Around the world, countless cities, including Dhaka, celebrate World Car Free Day on September 22 each year. This day is a useful reminder that the automobile was meant to serve us, and not the other way around.

We invest our money in the vehicles and the infrastructure to serve them. We lose blood and limbs in the inevitable accidents that occur when people drive heavy vehicles at speeds over 30 km / h. We accept the fact that we will breathe dirty air and that millions of people around the world will die prematurely every year from air pollution. We prioritize car rights over human rights. And what do we get in return? Endless traffic jams and ugly and unlivable towns.

None of this is inevitable. People have lived in cities for thousands of years; automobiles are a recent entrant. Considering all the disasters they have caused, it is far more than time to question whether allowing them, or even inviting them to our cities, was a wise move.

There is a saying that if we aspired to make our cities polluted, dangerous and congested, we could hardly have chosen a better path than to make them self-centric. If, on the other hand, we want cleaner air, safer streets, easier travel, and more active and happy residents, then we need to make major changes. These changes involve both a carrot and a stick. The carrot is about making the best transportation options (walking, cycling, rickshaws, and public transportation) attractive, convenient and affordable. The stick is to make car (and motorcycle) travel heavier and more expensive, by not allowing it everywhere and charging for both time and space occupied when parked.

In our globalized world, it is easy to see the results of different approaches. Car-centric cities all over the world are congested, polluted and dangerous. Cities that reward people for getting around without a car are much nicer.

It won’t be easy to break the stronghold that the three-headed monster – the car, fuel and road construction companies – has on our governments. We are all, to some extent, sensitive to the propaganda they disseminate, sincerely believing that modernity means cars, and that pollution, traffic jams and accidents are inevitable. But we can work to free ourselves and our governments from the evil influence of the monster. We can demand that the rights of children to walk and cycle safely to school, and of adults to travel safely and conveniently without a car, override people’s ‘right’ to drive and drive. to park.

We can clearly express our requests through our actions and words. We can learn more about town planning and transport, and how it works in different cities. How some cities strive to become “15 minute towns†where all that matters is within a 15 minute walk or bike ride of the residences. How some cities have started converting car roads into cycle lanes, or temporarily converting road space on weekends into a space for lively and fun social gatherings, during the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.

Most importantly, we can dare to believe, dream, and work for something infinitely better than the polluted, car-centric cities our alien visitors would otherwise experience.

Debra Efroymson is Executive Director of the Institute of Wellbeing, Bangladesh, and author of “Beyond Apologies, Defining and Achieving an Economics of Wellbeingâ€.