In London, Bike Commuters Now the Majority in Some Places

In London, bicycles are gaining ground as a mode of transportation. And as in New York, the uptick in cyclists is exposing some uncomfortable divisions, stereotypes, and backlash.

If there is a transportation sea change happening here -- and it looks like there might be -- it is not going to come without some angst. Bike riders, drivers, and pedestrians are all going to have to adjust both their attitudes and their behavior.

According to the blog Cyclists in the City (that's "The City," as in London's version of Wall Street), the latest figures from London's transportation department show a huge boom in the number of two-wheeled commuters. This runs counter to the constant hectoring of people like high-profile journalist Jeremy Clarkson, who has made sport of ridiculing people who don't burn fossil fuels to get where they're going, and who recently referred to cycling in The Sunday Times of London (paywall) as "a frontline propaganda weapon in the war on capitalism."


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How the Places We Live Make Us Sick, and How They Could Heal Us Instead

The news came out a couple of weeks ago, and then it got swept away in the ongoing torrent of information: The Centers for Disease Control projects that by 2050, one in three American will have diabetes.

One. In. Three.

If we needed any more of a wakeup call about the catastrophic state of American public health, this should provide it.

Why is this happening? According to the report, "These projected increases are largely attributable to the aging of the US population, increasing numbers of members of higher-risk minority groups in the population, and people with diabetes living longer."

Fair enough. But why are people -- minority or otherwise -- getting diabetes in the first place? Scientists have proven the link between diabetes and obesity. And we have become a society where the road to obesity is quite literally built into our environment. Studies have shown that more vehicle miles traveled result in more obesity. Our broken food system is another huge contributing factor, but even there, the built environment factors in -- our inner cities are quite often "food deserts" where no healthy nutrition is available.

So if the places we live are making us sick, could they heal us instead -- if only they were designed better?

That's the fascinating question being raised by the Healing Cities Working Group of planners and health professionals in Vancouver.

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