The Bicycle Institute very much welcomes this announcement as we have worked with Fred with bicycle policies for Adelaide. He is very knowledgeable and brings a great deal of vision and experience from Portland Oregon.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/new-transport-guru-appointed-to-help-revitalise-adelaides-suburbs/story-e6frea83-1226318359286

Premier Jay Weatherill today announced former Thinker in Residence Fred Hansen will head the state's Urban Renewal Authority.

More on the American way of unhealthful living. The heavily subsidized suburban design of the American Dream is at the heart of obesity, mortgage, and fiscal problems. Watch this video lecture below, in which Dr. Richard Jackson, host of the PBS-special presentation "Designing Healthy Communities," http://designinghealthycommunities.org/ shares his views about how the built environment is also central for putting us back on track. Hosted and recorded by the New America Foundation. http://newamerica.net/

Opposite to the 'top down' concept of urban design is BETTER BLOCK, founded in Dallas' Oak Cliff by Jason Roberts and Andrew Howard. The Better Block project is a demonstration tool that temporarily re-visions an area to show the potential to create a walkable, vibrant, neighborhood center. The idea and the charrettes to realize it have quickly spread to cities like Memphis, St. Louis, New York, and Boston. National media coverage includes NPR, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.

A provocative but intuitive series on the way US cities ( and Austalian) have been designed to make us unhealthy being aired on the US PBS networks (a preview below). This is not coming from an urban design perspective which the Bicycle Institute advocates from but from a medical perspective which makes this series very interesting. We will try and post some more from this series in the future.

http://designinghealthycommunities.org/

How Bikes Make Cities Cool - Portland from Kona Bikes on Vimeo.

We are set to welcome yet another carpark to the Adelaide CBD as it nears completion on Franklin St. We already have more than enough currently as we rank among the highest number of carparks per capita in the CBD of international cities. Walking past this just reminds you that these things do not create vibrant cities only congested polluted ones with cars as they attract more. What a waste of key developmental land being right in the heart of the CBD. We hope it has some bike parking somewhere in there which is actually a compulsory design element we understand for all car parks. You have to wonder what the reasons were why the DAC panel approved it despite the obvious misgivings shown below at the time in this article in the advertiser.

http://thisbigcity.net/local-economic-implications-of-urban-bicycle-networks/ by Joe Peach

These are some tough economic times we’re in. Governments across the globe are trying all kinds of tricks to keep things ticking over, with varying degrees of success (or varying degrees of failure, depending on how upbeat you’re feeling). But could bicycle networks benefit cities, providing a relatively inexpensive way to boost local urban economies?

From the Netherlands to America: Translating the World's Best Bikeway Designs from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

Do you ride the Vines Rail Trail? Please note this advice from DPTI about the upcoming work.

COAST TO VINES RAIL TRAIL

Cyclists using the Coast to Vines Rail Trail should be aware that construction has begun on the McLaren vale Overpass. DPTI's contractor Bardavcol has established a compound at the corner of Victor Harbor Road and Martins Road adjacent to the rail trail.

Major earthworks have started and heavily laden trucks and other vehicles cross the path frequently. Warning signs and orange bunting have been erected on the approach to the site and cyclists are asked to proceed with care.