If you liked this book, I'd strongly recommend finding a copy of @modacitylife.com's "Curbing Traffic" as your follow-up read. They're Canadians, living in The Netherlands, consulting with cities on how to become more people-friendly.
www.ubcpress.ca/curbing-traf...

Selfie or it didn’t happen!

Precisely!

These global stories of urban transformation didn’t happen by accident; they’re driven by new styles of leadership willing to push back against the status quo. Learn more in our new book, ‘Women Changing Cities,’ which is available wherever fine books are sold: www.modacitylife.com/women-changi... 🔚

🔟 In Sydney, Lord Mayor Clover Moore has focused on design, innovation and sustainability to shape a beautiful and liveable city for the twenty-first century. On her watch, cycling rates have increased by 163%—and the number of women biking by 15%—with over 40,000 residents riding in a typical week.

9️⃣ Paris’ hostile streets are finding a new life as Mayor Anne Hidalgo has swiftly transformed it from a city for passing through to a city for passing time. Such bold steps include 1,000 kilometres of cycling routes, 300 school streets, removing 70,000 car parking spaces, and planting 145,000 trees.

8️⃣ In Tirana, Deputy Mayor Anuela Ristani has introduced a child-friendly lens to the planning processes of a chaotic city, with unparalleled investments in public playgrounds (one for each month in office), school streets (at a rate of 20 per year), and bike infrastructure (totalling 58 kilometres).

7️⃣ Journalist and advocate Keisha Mayuga has sparked a cycling revolution in Manila, leveraging the global pandemic as an opportunity to create one temporary bike lane in her city that eventually led to the establishment of over 1,500 kilometres of permanent infrastructure throughout the Philippines.

6️⃣ Under Mayor Valérie Plante, Montréal rolled out the continent’s most ambitious car-free program, pedestrianising nine kilometres along 11 commercial arteries each summer with a $12-million investment, helping 2,100 entrepreneurs thrive, while also delivering 191 kilometres of protected bike lanes.

5️⃣ In Kampala, Planner Amanda Ngabirano has shown remarkable determination through a decade-long quest to turn her experience of life on two wheels while completing her Master’s in the Netherlands into a reality with the creation of two non-motorised corridors in the city’s central business district.

4️⃣ Under Mobility Minister Elke van den Brandt, Brussels has started a shift from a car-choked city of corridors to a salon city. A new circulation plan and 30 km/h speed limit have cut car traffic by 30%, increased cycling by 36%, reduced crashes by 22%, and halved both traffic fatalities and noise.

3️⃣ In New Delhi, entrepreneur Kalpana Viswanath has drastically changed the conversation about public space and transportation by centring women’s perceptions of safety—helping government officials recognise how fear and comfort often determine how people move through the city and access opportunity.

2️⃣ In Bogotá, Mayor Claudia López tackled the hidden burden of unpaid care work (the daily unpaid tasks of running a household) by creating neighbourhood “Care Blocks”—community assets that also helped shift travel habits—boosting walking and cycling by 6% and reducing car trips by 15% in four years.