The Urbanist Agenda

The 15-minute cities conspiracy has almost nothing to do with urban planning, and everything to do with climate change denialism. Urban planning has just become the latest topic to get caught up in the culture war.

Micro-mobility is becoming a huge trend in the 21st century. In this episode, Jason and Alan discuss the rise of small electric vehicles, especially electric scooters, and how they'll fit into the walkable cities of the future.

Toronto has almost completely stopped issuing parking tickets to drivers, even as it faces critical budget problems. But this is just one more decision in a long line that allow drivers in Toronto to get away with almost any behaviour. From running red lights to driving literally twice the speed limit, the Toronto Police have proven, time and time again, that Toronto drivers are above the law.

During the covid-19 pandemic, many US cities made streets off-limits to cars and opened them to people walking an cycling. These "open streets" were loved by urbanists everywhere, but now that the lockdowns are over, many of these places are being given back to motor vehicle traffic. In this episode, I talk to Dave from the YouTube channel City Beautiful about these closed open streets and what the future of "open streets" might look like in the US and Canada.