Sunday Streets in Sydney

| August 18, 2013

In recent years 100 cities around the world have started closing off some of their streets on Sundays and opening them up for people to cycle, skate or walk and connect with their community. Daniel Kogoy, Greens Councillor on Leichhardt Council, asks everyone to think big and help bring the event to Sydney.

On arrival in Bogota, Colombia in 2007 for a year of work and study, I was blown away to find so many innovative public space and transport projects – in spite of the country’s still very real political, social justice and corruption issues. The speed and scale of these new public works really put my home state of New South Wales to shame.

In a little over a decade Bogota had built hundreds of kilometres of safe, separated bicycle paths and high quality footpaths, many new parks, libraries, public squares and affordable housing linked to a Bus Rapid Transit system that carries more people per kilometre than most of the world’s metro rail systems. Bogota, which had been an almost unlivable, congested city, had given its residents some space to breathe.

But perhaps the most exciting public space initiative to come out of Bogota is its weekly Ciclovia event. Held every Sunday and public holiday, Ciclovia is a fun and healthy event that closes off a massive 120 kilometres of Bogota’s main streets to motor vehicles and opens them up for people to walk, cycle, skate, chat, and participate in a whole range of other activities – like climbing walls, live music and performance, dance, yoga and aerobics classes – along the route.

The beauty of Ciclovia – apart from seeing up to two million smiling faces where you normally find a traffic jam – is that it can be enjoyed by just about anyone regardless of what part of the city they live in, income, age, ability or recreational activity. Participants are only limited by their imagination.

As it is held regularly and open to just about everyone, the health benefits of Ciclovia are enormous. Research published in the Journal of Urban Health found a positive cost benefit ratio from the health gains alone. Very important, considering heart disease and diabetes are some of Australia’s biggest killers.

Ciclovia provides a real boost to local business too. Local shops love Ciclovia because it brings so many people – who might otherwise just drive to a shopping centre – out exploring the city’s high streets. Shops are encouraged to actively participate in the event to attract punters, for example by claiming the footpath in front of them.

The event has gone viral in recent years with over 100 cities around the world including New York City, Paris, Berlin, San Francisco, Jakarta, Cape Town, Mumbai and even car clogged Los Angeles regularly holding similar events. It is on every continent except Australia and Antarctica!

Over the past few months Bike Leichhardt, BIKESydney, the Go! Alliance and I have been campaigning to bring Ciclovia to Sydney and regional NSW. We are calling it Sunday Streets over here.

The campaign has already had some wins. There are a growing number of residents, community groups, sustainable transport organisations, media, local businesses, Chambers of Commerce, arts and cultural organisations endorsing the event for Sydney.

Jamie Parker, MP for Balmain, and Alex Greenwich, MP for Sydney, support it and so does The Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils, which is working on a pilot Sunday Streets event to be held in 2014 on a Leichhardt to Marrickville route.

The idea is to hold Sunday Streets along different routes in Sydney a few times a year – like many North American cities do – with the ultimate aim to work towards holding Sunday Streets every Sunday like in Bogota, Jakarta and Guadalajara, Mexico.

Like Bogota, a key way New South Wales can help overcome its history of decision makers neglecting the public realm – not to mention corruption issues – is by thinking big and opening up its largest public space for people on Sundays.

So what can you do to get involved? Help spread the word by emailing your local councillors and MP requesting their support for Sunday Streets in your area, sign the petition and like our facebook page. If your organisation would like to officially endorse Sunday Streets in Sydney, please get in touch.

A video of Sunday Streets in San Francisco: http://vimeo.com/12470723

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