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| Former Milwaukee mayor: Don't copy US urban sprawl | |||
| John Norquist: The European urban model is better for Israel. | |||
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 "Some people want to build big roads in Tel Aviv, while
others want to build boulevards and small streets. We're basically
talking about comparing the American model with the European model, and
in this case, the European model is better. There are no freeways in
the heart of Paris, except for the George Pompidou Expressway along the
Seine, which it has now been decided to remove," Congress for the New Urbanism
president and CEO John Norquist, the Mayor of Milwaukee in 1988-2004,
told "Globes". He spoke this week at a seminar in Safed for Israeli
mayors in the use of planning, space, and urban mass transport.
The Congress for the New Urbanism promotes the development of city neighborhoods with a focus on pedestrians for sustainable community and a better and healthier quality of life. Norquist comments, "Milwaukee has clear ties with Israel. It was once the residence of Golda Meir." He is best known for his opposition to expressways and his support for light rail systems. His election campaign in 1974 for the Wisconsin State Assembly was based on opposition to the completion of the Stadium South Freeway in Milwaukee, and in 2002, as mayor, he oversaw the demolition of a section of the Park East Freeway. Norquist says, "40,000 cars used the freeway daily. It lowered adjacent property values, and our engineers at city hall examined how to disperse the traffic more effectively. We thought we could remove the freeway without causing problems; we did it and no problems resulted. "After us, many other cities demolished freeways, including New York, San Francisco, and Cleveland. The biggest freeway removal was by Seoul in 2003, under Mayor Lee Myung-bak, who is now the President of South Korea." "Globes": We have increasingly seen that urban planning for infrastructures in Israel is terrible. How do you propose to fix this? "The way to deal with this is to make the planning process much more public, so that residents can get more involved in the decision-making. It's important that mayors understand the importance of planning that incorporates urban values and preserves urbanism. For example, Rothschild Boulevard and Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv are beautiful, well-proportioned streets with a very interesting architecture that creates a cultural fabric for the city's economy and tourism. "I would advise the mayors to understand the importance of preserving this plan and avoid urban sprawl in the American style, which we in the US are just now beginning to overcome." Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 31, 2010 © Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983)
Ltd. 2010 |