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A
passionate
cross
border
(net)worker
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a nd
80ies and Länder level in Northrhine-Westfalia in the 80ies and
90ies,
including model programs and investment subsidies for urban renewal,
traffic
calming, bicycle promotion and innovative public transport.
Since the
60ies I
have been deeply engaged in a fight for livable places, vital public
spaces, innovative
public transport and a world with less cars and more attractiveness for
cycling
and walking. I am fighting against extremely expensive and gigantic
infrastructure projects like the Stuttgart 21 underfloor station or the
different high speed train projects of the Trans European Networks.
I
integrate new trends in mobility behavior into my conceptual work and
put much
effort into the future of car sharing, car2Go and bike sharing concepts
and a
flexible organization of public transport including modern paratransit.
I
believe in a splendid future of the green modes worldwide.
I am
running the private planning and
consulting agency raumkom Institute
for
spatial development and communication in which 7 young scientists
and
planners
are working hard to convince decision makers on all administrative
levels to
change the ordinary business as usual practice for courageous
innovations. The main office is located in Trier.
Increase the desire for a
better future
Though I have collected many data about critical aspects of our
car-mania I
strongly believe in the necessity of positive visions of a better life
and much
more efficient mobility with less cars. I want to show the advantages
of
modern, innovative, sustainable organization of transport with a high
service
level and a better efficiency. We have the choice to waste or to use
our
chances. So I prefer positive forecasts.
Intense use of mass media
Reasonable research needs publicity for good ideas. That is the reason
why I
cooperate as often as possible with mass media. They may support the
distribution of new ideas and concepts with their broadcast, TV,
newspaper and
journal stories, telling about the great successes which can be reached
by
innovative planners and politicians. I have prepared several
exhibitions about
greening urban transport either through cycle and walking promotion
(RADLUST 1.0
and RADLUST 2.0) or attractive transit investment (SPURWECHSEL).
Learning from
abroad (f.e. Copenhagen, Zurich, Basel, Oxford, Münster,
Groningen, Freiburg,
Boulder, Portland, Paris) is a constant source of inspiration.
Why do politicians block
innovations?
The programs of most political parties are not at all innovative when
it comes
to transport, mobility and urban development. They still concentrate
all
efforts on an expansion of the inefficient car system, by funding
street
network and car parking capacity expansion and defending privileges for
car
owners and car manufacturers. And they continue the strategy of urban
sprawl.
You hardly find prominent politicians who really believe in the future
of the green modes and support them by changing the administrative and
fiscal
frame.
My vision: change is
possible
After having fought for a radical change in urban and transport
planning
concepts I still believe in the chance for a change, if we combine the
innovative experiments of selected towns as mentioned above. There are
many
good reasons for a change, some reasons have to do with the global
problems of
climate change, energy waste and public health, others are more
relevant on the
national and local level such as the quality of urban environment and
social
interaction on public spaces. The postfossile age needs new answers.
The modern
life style includes much more inter- and multimodality and a high
awareness
among more and more people that efficiency will be a central criteria
for the
future: space efficiency and energy efficiency. Both aspects
necessarily force
us to give much more priority to the three green modes of walking,
cycling and
public transport including car and bike sharing. Spatial planning needs
to reduce distances and increase land use densities and mixture.
Let's
fight for a better and more sustainable future, wherever we have
responsibilities. I invite you to go through the different pages, to
make use
of the presented material and to start a dialogue by contacting me
Yours
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