Bellevue uses AI technology to identify problem intersections and make them safer

Bogotá is largely credited with originating the concept of “open streets” —where city roads are closed to car traffic and given over to people for fun and fitness—but it has grown beyond that city, surfacing in Pennsylvania.

The rate of roadway deaths in Sweden is at an international low due to an approach called Vision Zero. Now the country’s approach faces perhaps its stiffest test: the streets of New York City.

A second year of decline demonstrates that a project to reduce traffic fatalities works, said a safety advocate, who called on the mayor to expand the effort, termed Vision Zero, which lowers speed limits and raises enforcement.

Clogged with traffic, crippled by poor infrastructure – the capital is notoriously hard to navigate on foot. Enter Peatónito, the activist fighting for safer streets.

Cars heavily influence building planning in the U.S. due to a historical preference for suburbs, but a town in Illinois improved its economy by thinking like a city. They created transit-oriented development which prioritizes pedestrians and attracts millennials.

In an attempt to address liver disease, diabetes, obesity and other health issues, Brownsville has launched a comprehensive, cohesive approach to promoting health, being named a model for other communities across the country.

A Dallas urban neighborhood was dilapidated with abandoned storefronts and offered no vitality for pedestrians. A group of artists and community members created Build a Better Block, in which local artisans and small businesses took over a vacant block and transformed it for a limited time to encourage the ingredients for more permanent urban renewal.

Alleys in Seattle were once places of illicit, illegal, and unsanitary activity. The International Sustainability Institute in Seattle began organizing music and art events to bring in people, which, in turn, cleaned-up the crime and garbage. As an urban development strategy, adjacent vacant storefronts re-opened for business and beautification could be seen in new gardens.

The Oak Cliff neighborhood in Dallas suffered from recession-closed businesses and crime. Then community members used placemaking, in which people shaped their own environment to improve the quality of life, and the concept of Build a Better Block, which was a pop-up event showcasing art, food, music, and local faire. The idea gives citizens a fresh look at the possibilities through which to transform the space in which they live, and it has attracted attention across the country and around the world.

Cities tend to be dangerous and difficult places to live for older residents. A private public partnership in New York is catering to seniors through small changes in the city such as para-transit options and seniors-only hours at public establishments.