planted city

Gonna ride my bike til the break o’ dawn… 

Public Art: Terracotta Warriors in the City

Here’s a shot of one of many fibreglass Terracotta Warrior sculptures that have been painted up and started appearing around the city for the summer. Previous years have seen orcas, eagles and “spirit bears” serve as templates for artistic expression, some better than others. The concept began in Zurich, Switzerland in 1998 and has since spread to cities around the world. In the fall, the sculptures will be auctioned off in a fundraiser for charity. You can read more info on this year’s crop here.

Some recent water themed shots from around Vancouver

Condominium glass, vine maple, and kelp… a few of ‘The Colours of Vancouver’ from Douglas Coupland

Source: Designboom

From Inter Press Service: 

Berlin is a big capital city of a country famed for making excellent automobiles, but it can no longer afford roads and is now moving people by transit, bike and especially through walking.

Berlin is not alone. Paris, Tokyo, Seoul, Bogotá, New York City and other major cities simply cannot afford the cost, the pollution, the noise and the congestion of more cars. They are embracing a new concept called EcoMobility - mobility without private cars. 
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EcoMobility is defined as moving people and goods in urban areas using combinations of walking, cycling (including electric bikes) and wheeling (roller blades), public transport, and light electric vehicles. 

The concept is being widely embraced by cities looking for affordable and effective forms of sustainable transport. 

“Cities should focus more on moving people rather than moving vehicles,” said Stephen Yarwood, mayor of Adelaide, Australia. 

The fact is, cars are not very good at moving people. A standard 3.5-meter-wide city street has a maximum capacity of 2,000 people in cars per hour. The same road can carry 14,000 cyclists or 19,000 pedestrians each hour. 

Light rail in the same space can move 22,000 people, and a double lane of bus rapid transit will move 43,000 people, said Manfred Breithaupt, director of the GIZ Sustainable Urban Transport Project, a German NGO. 

The transportation sector is one of biggest contributors of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, responsible for 25 to 30 percent of the emissions causing climate change. 

Check out the rest of the article here.

(Infographic credit: City of Münster via Lunchover IP)

Here’s a shot of the NEU Community Garden taken from the south end of the Cambie Bridge on my walk home the other day.

The 46 plot garden gets its name from the Neighbourhood Energy Untility powering the former Olympic Village site/ Southeast False Creek mixed-use community located nearby. Vancouver now 74 community gardens with approximately 3260 garden plots citywide. Details here. 

I’ve got more photos here if you’re interested.

Here’s a shot of one of the bike specific traffic signals on the Hornby Street separated bike lane in downtown Vancouver. The signals guide cyclists across busy intersections and help to avoid conflicts with motorists and pedestrians. Details here.                                                      

-> i’ve got some more photos here if you’re interested.

Over the last couple of weeks the streets, parks and gardens here in Vancouver have been painted pink by hundreds, if not thousands of blossoming plum trees. Here are three of my shots from around the city. 

From The Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions:

Join us for a discussion with two of Vancouver’s most influential planning academics, Professors Mark Roseland and Ron Kellett. Learn more from Mark Roseland about what’s happened at the community level in sustainable development since the UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, 1992. Find out about Ron Kellett’s work on engaging citizens through “measured visualizations” to explore and express the links of energy, GHG emissions and community planning.

When: Wednesday, March 28, 2012 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm

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Live Web Stream: www.pics.uvic.ca/events.php

More here.

* Note that it starts at 5:00 PM Pacific time (8:00 PM on the East Coast)

Happy Spring folks!