Driving Force: Energy and Climate Strategies for China's Motorization - a report from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

While the discussion during the transport panel session Friday at the Sustainability Summit was geared towards US policy, as is the content of this class, Joe aptly brought the situation in China to the forefront of conversation by arguing how the Chinese must avoid making the same policy decisions that created and reinforced auto-dependency in the US. Such significance of path dependence features in the conclusion of this report by the Carnegie Endowment, which provides graphic illustration of why China is now at a crossroads with respect to transport planning. Keep in mind that dependence on the auto for fulfilling basic necessities in most US communities is one major reason why substantive efforts to reduce auto-dependence tend to encounter political headwinds.

Accessed via Sustainable Cities Collective, China's Rapid Motorization Calls for Efficient Public Transit, posted 21 April 2011 by EMBARQ

Bringing streetcar back: One more argument that Portland is ahead of other cities in smart transit planning

This is worth the read...transit and environmentalism being defined as being a step ahead of others much the way growth and development has traditionally been touted by other regions. This piece is more than about Portland it is a perspective on transit and livability that we should consider throughout the semester. Good video too! Take note of the links in the story.

"As we wait for work crews to finish laying Portland Streetcar tracks into Northeast Portland (and to reopen automobile and bike lanes), here’s a little something to scratch the ol' chin over.

Patrick Condon’s new book “Seven Rules for Sustainable Communities”argues that bringing streetcars back is the wisest thing cities can do. 

With guidance and consulting fromPortland Streetcar officials, Los Angeles is in the process of bringing streetcars back to its moribund downtown. 
The Sustainable Cities Collective blog has a nice piece on Condon, a professor of landscape architecture at the University of British Columbia. " Read the rest of the story here....