Bogota paves way in war against cars Jun. 24, 2006.
CHRISTOPHER HUME (Star)

VANCOUVE - The automobile has put us on the road to destruction.
That was the message to delegates at the United Nations World Urban Forum, which attracted 8,400 people from all parts of the globe.
Speaker after speaker emphasized this fact, none more so than Enrique Penalosa, former mayor of Bogota, the only participant to earn a standing ovation at this wide-ranging conference.
"We need to walk just as birds need to fly," he said to loud cheers. "Even if cars were totally clean, they are damaging to the environment."
During his years as Bogota mayor, Penalosa introduced radical changes that made him the poster boy of enlightened urbanism around the world. Most notably, he took a stand against the automobile, and insisted that the streets be handed back to the majority of residents who don't own cars.
"The public good must prevail over private interest," he insisted. "Cities need to have great public pedestrian space; that's not a luxury, it is a minimum a democracy (can) offer its citizens. Building bigger roads only leads to more traffic congestion. We are taking money away from the needs of the poor to serve the needs of the minority that drives a car." (read on in the comments)