This year the Walk2Work Day theme is Walking and Public Transport. A walk is part of every bus, train and ferry ride. Research shows that walking and catching the bus or train (or ferry you lucky people) keeps you fitter than using a car.
Ahead of a new government being formed, Waka Kotahi has paused funding to a programme designed to speed up adoption of more sustainable modes of travel.
Living Streets President, Tim Jones, criticised Waka Kotahi's move. “There are many benefits of walking and other non-car modes, that we need to see accelerated for both health and climate action,” he said.
Join us for a walk following in the (imagined) footsteps of Jane Jacobs, one of the early urbanists who fought (and won) to maintain her 1960's New York neighbourhood from motorway development. Jane worked on the principle that citizens know what works in their neighbourhoods best and supported community based development from the bottom up. She appreciated that cities grow organically and can be a bit messy. Jane believed that cities were made great by their diversity, and having buildings with different purposes encourages lively activity throughout the day among neighbors.
Join us at the fourth New Zealand Walking Summit in Christchurch this 24 and 25 July 2023.
Registrations open, provisional programme available!
Yes we do need to start the journey to a more walkable future, for our health, the planet, the economy and just because walking is fun and social. There are some really fantastic projects internationally that we could take bits from and adapt to what we want in New Zealand - its all about what we want after all. That vision is required from the top nudged along by us. Some of the first steps have already been taken with footpath maintenance funding now available and a revised Government Policy Statement on Transport. We need to see that turned into action on our streets.
Walking toward a healthier, brighter, more equitable future
The attached is an article recently published in Planning Quarterly 196 March 2015 (without it's nice photos sorry) on Planning for walking - time to make strides in measuring performance. The article sets out and proposes a new approach to measuring walk performance in local authority plans to enable a more rapid change to walk mode share and improve walkability, by making walking more visible.
Here is the Living Streets Aotearoa submission for the draft Wellington Regional Land Transport Plan 2015.
Next Wednesday (13 March) is Walk2Work Day – and you’re invited to join Mayor Celia Wade-Brown in an early morning commuter walk from the Northland shops to Queens Wharf.
Living Streets Aotearoa is the New Zealand organisation for people on foot, promoting walking-friendly communities. We are a nationwide organisation with local branches and affiliates throughout New Zealand.
We want more people walking and enjoying public spaces be they young or old, fast or slow, whether walking, sitting, commuting, shopping, between appointments, or out on the streets for exercise, for leisure or for pleasure.
