TOI : Develop own vision, don’t ape Shanghai : Oct 31,2007

Mumbai: “Transport should be more people-oriented and city planners should follow a Mumbai-centric vision instead of trying to emulate Shanghai,’’ said Philipp Rode of the London School of Economics.

    Speaking about the Urban Age conference starting Thursday, Rode said, “Over 55.5% of the public in the city resort to walking, with cars barely comprising 5%. However pedestrians are not considered from a transport perspective by planners.’’

    Rode is executive director of Urban Age, which is a world-wide investigation into the future of cities organised by the Cities Programme of the LSE and the Alfred Herhausen Society, an international forum of Deutsche Bank. The Urban Age India conference from November 1 to 3 will be inaugurated by the German chancellor, Angela Merkel and will have experts and policy makers from different cities speaking and debating on the challenges facing city development in the future like overcrowding, crime, transport as well as poor governance.

    Urban Age figures show that in Mumbai, 55.5% of the public walk, 14.4% travel by bus and 21.9% use the train. In Delhi, 31.8% walk while 42% travel by bus while in Shanghai 29.2% of the people walk to work. In London and New York, the figures are 20.9% and 9% respectively for those who prefer their feet for transport.

    Wolfgang Nowak, managing director of the Alfred Herrhausen Society, was impressed by the tolerant spirit of the Indian people and felt the city should use its own unique culture and sensibility to chart a new course for the future.

    “Urban Age sustains an ongoing worldwide dialogue between policy makers, academic experts and urban practitioners about the future of cities,’’ said Nowak and stated that since 2005, Urban Age has visited New York City, Shanghai, London, Mexico City, Johannesburg and Berlin with activities involving heads of state, city mayors and specialists with practical as well as theoretical expertise. An award, the Deutsche Bank Urban Age Award will be conferred on November 1 to a project in Mumbai that demonstrates innovation and improves the physical as well as the social well-being of residents and communities.

    toireporter@timesgroup.com

Publication:Times of India Mumbai; Date:Oct 31, 2007; Section:Times City; Page Number:10