Ahmedabad may follow Bogota city model

Ahmedabad, which is considered to be one of the most polluted city in the world, may replicate the Bogata model of urban development to improve the quality of living in the city.

Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), in association with Environmental Planning Collaborative (EPC), launched an initiative to highlight critical urban issues and collectively work for better cities in Gujarat.

As a part of the initiative Enrique Penalosa, former mayor of Bogata presented a detailed report on 'The Transformation of the City of Bogota' at the chamber on Monday, which may form as a role model for Ahmedabad to improve the standard of the city.

"We will try to replicate the Bogota model to improve the urban development in Ahmedabad. There is a need to restrict private vehicles in the city to improve the quality of living in Ahmedabad. The civic authority must provide good civic amenities," said Chinubhai R Shah, president, GCCI.

Penalosa, in his presentation, focused on the initiatives taken by him during his term as mayor of Bogota to improve the urban development in the city.

One of the main initiatives was the introduction of a bus-based public transport system known as 'Trasmilenio', which consists of high capacity buses on exclusive corridors.

Other steps include creating parks and bicycle paths, planting trees, promoting public spaces, and restricting the use of public automobiles in the city.

"In Bogota, we chose to build a city for people, not for automobiles. Cities built for cars' mobility suffer from congestion and unsafe street conditions and leave many residents with poor access to jobs. Instead of this, we may gave our citizens enjoyable public spaces and unprecedented mobility," said Penalosa.

Surendra Patel, chairman, Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority attended the presentation. Other experts on urban planning like Walter Hook and Karl Fjellstrom from the Institute of Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) and Herman Knopflacher, a leading expert on urban planning and pedestrianisation issues from Vienna Institute of Technology, Austria attended the seminar.

Over the issue of parking due to increasing automobiles, Penalosa said, "Parking is not a constitutional right. The government should not allow parking in public places."