Bold Moves, Brave Actions

What kind of cities do we want to have?

Melbourne  |  Zurich  |  Bogota  |  Hong Kong  |  Indianapolis

Great cities don't just happen. They are the result of dedicated citizens and public officials who care about their hometowns and who are wiling to shake things up to make them better places to live, work and play. This almost always involves imaginative innovations, which defy all the conventional wisdom about how to plan cities. Here are five success stories from five continents that can encourage you to initiate some bold moves to turn around things in your own town.

Melbourne gloriously revived its sagging downtown by emphasizing public spaces and deemphasizing auto accessibility. Zurich built one of the world's great transit systems by embracing the tram at a time when streetcar tracks were being torn up everywhere else. Bogota, Colombia, got everybody on bikes in a city where almost nobody rode them before. Hong Kong, once notorious as a terrible place for anyone on foot, is making significant steps toward becoming pedestrian friendly. And Indianapolis, whose name is synonymous with speeding cars, is building world-class facilities for bicyclists and pedesetrians right through the heart of downtown.