Designing Cities for Cars

"In developing-world cities, the majority of people don’t have cars, so I will say, when you construct a good sidewalk, you are constructing democracy. A sidewalk is a symbol of equality...We are designing cities for cars, cars, cars, cars, cars. Not for people. Cars are a very recent invention. The 20th century was a horrible detour in the evolution of the human habitat. We were building much more for cars’ mobility than children’s happiness...The upper-income people in developing countries never walk. They see the city as a threatening space, and they can go for months without walking one block."

~ Enrique Peñalosa, from an interview with Deborah Solomon, New York Times Magazine (6.8.08)