How Bogota Inspired Sustainable Cities Across the Globe

By Andrés Jara-Moreno  - a Political scientist specializing in international relations and conflict resolution. Andrés is currently running his own consultancy, Criteria and completing a master’s degree in economics.
About fourteen years ago, Bogotá was seen as the world-famous capital of narcotraffic and guerrillas. Foreigners used to see the city as one the most dangerous places to travel and live in Latin America. Despite our high quality coffee, marihuana and cocaine also represented some of our traditional products of exportation.

In 1998, Bogotá elected Enrique Peñalosa as Mayor, a man whose obsession with rebuilding urban landscapes led him to introduce a comprehensive policy of mobility that comprises the recuperation of thousands of square meters of public spaces; the implementation of an above ground mass transportation system operated by high capacity buses along dedicated lanes, better known today as TransMilenio;  and hundreds of kilometers of segregated bicycle tracks, among other things.

However, by that time, Bogotá was already a pioneer in the development of sustainable cities, launching the car-free Sundays event Ciclovia. Yet despite this initial success, there is no doubt that additional mobility improvements during Peñalosa’s tenure meant Bogotá’s image began to improve the world over. Cities from across the globe are now taking Bogotá as an example of global transportation best practices. Politicians and technocrats from at least 200 cities have visited Bogotá since 2005 to get an in depth look at its sustainable transportation initiatives. From bicycles to BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) systems, Bogotá has served as a worthy and inspiring case study for cities like New York, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Jakarta and Guangzhou.

 In 2008, for instance, the city of New York replicated Ciclovia, giving thousands of New Yorkers more access to places to walk, bike, and play. During three consecutive Saturdays, Summer Streets, as New York branded it, created a 6.9 mile car free route connecting Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park. This would have not been possible if New York City Commissioner of Transport, Jannet Sadi-Khan, hadn’t visited Bogota to see with her own eyes the 120 kilometers network of main roads and avenues that every Sunday and holiday are shut to traffic and gather over 1 million visitors.

Later, in 2010, the city of Guangzhou, China, opened its 22.5 kilometer Bus Rapid Transit corridor with the main purpose of cutting congestion on one of the city´s busiest roads, Zhongshan Avenue, and to improve the efficiency of the city’s bus system. Again, this would have not been possible without delegations of both high level policy makers and transit technicians visiting Bogotá.
Bogotá is internationally recognized today as home of the sleek, red articulated buses as well as the city that has the most extensive bicycle track network after China. These sustainable transportation advancements have also spurred further exchange of knowledge between countries and cities of every part of the globe but, above all, have awoken both the city and citizen’s sense of belonging.
Images courtesy of alexthompson on flickr, ITDP, and Andrés Jara-Moreno.

I took this article from "this big city" official Tumblr.

Seminar HIV dan AIDS

Ini post gue yang kedua di tanggal 28 Februari ini,,well,,setelah gue ikut jadi bagian GCC Leader, gue dan temen2 harus bikin action mengenai isu2 global saat ini, seperti gender, HAM, HIV dan AIDS, war conflict, water and sanitation dan poverty. Kemaren2 gue ikut action temen gue,,nah sekarang gue bikin action sendiri,,yang gue paham dan informasi nya mudah didapat adalah tentang HIV AIDS, gue bikin mini seminar di gereja gue, targetnya anak remaja dan pemuda gereja, konsep acaranya sebenernya kaya ibadah pemuda biasa, tapi pas sesi firman diganti dengan materi HIV dan AIDS dan yang bawain materi nya gue,,hehehehey..

Intinya, gue cukup puas karena temen2 yg lain cukup antusias,,banyak juga yang nanya,,dan ada yg ga bisa gue jawab,,soalnya biologi banget,,hahay,,yatapi intinya gue puas,,selain gue sudah memenuhi syarat kelulusan GCC, ini tuh sebenernya suatu tantangan buat gue,,gue suka nantang diri sendiri sebenernya,,berani gak gue ngelakuin hal ini atau hal itu,,
yah walaupun sebelum acara digelar gue mendapat keacuhan dari orang2 yg seharusnya juga peduli,,
tapi gapapa lah,,yg penting sukses,,hehe
ini foto-fotonya,,,

segitu aja foto-fotonya,,udah gue upload smeua di FB gue,,hehey,,
cau,,

Penyuluhan Kesehatan Reproduksi

Beberapa waktu lalu, gue dan temen2 gue dari GCC,,ada Via, Andi, Egha, Gomat, Ryan, Ayunda berkesempatan untuk memberikan penyuluhan tentang kesehatan reproduksi pada anak-anak panti asuhan aria putra di Ciputat, Tangerang Selatan. Mereka itu terdiri dari anak perempuan dan laki-laki setingkat SMP dan SMA,,sebelumnya gue dan temen2 gue udah dapet training masalah Kespro di Mercy. Cukup senang, walaupun mereka ada di dalam panti asuhan Islam yang banyak tertutup masalah reproduksi,,ternyata mereka open banget,,banyak nanya2 juga,,selain ngasih penyuluhan kita juga sempet main games kecil untuk menghibur anak2,,
Singkatnya,,gue seneng bisa berbagi sama orang2 mengenai informasi kesehatan reproduksi,,gak hanya gue doang yang tahu tapi orang lain juga tahu, supaya bisa meminimalisir penyakit2 infeksi menular seksual dan mengetahui cara menjaga dan merawat organ reproduksi yang baik dan benar.
Ini beberapa foto-foto kita,,, :DD

 We were fun. Semoga bisa ngelakuin hal yg kaya gini lagi.
Jujur sama diri semdiri, sebenernya kita butuh banget informasi tentang kesehatan reproduksi dan bukan ngomongin hak-hak yang aneh loh,,ini tentang kesehatan.
Heuheu,oke deh kalo begitu,,
Cau,,,