Bogota Change! Cities on Speed

From mindhacks.com...

My latest 'Beyond Boundaries' column for The Psychologist discusses politics, social engineering and the use of mimes as a traffic calming measure. For those following the UK election, there are also elections here in Colombia, albeit to choose the president. In the running is the mathematician, philosopher and ex-Mayor of Bogotá Antanas Mockus who, whether you agree with his policies or not, is genuinely one of the most interesting politicians in the world.

The (English language) documentary Cities on Speed - Bogotá Change is a fascinating account of how he and subsequent mayor Enrique Peñalosa transformed the Colombian capital into the safe, modern city it is today. You can watch the whole thing on YouTube if you want to check it out. If you've never been interested in politics or social planning before, this documentary might just pique your interest.

www.youtube.com...

During the early 1990's Bogotá was the capital city of Colombia and by far the "worst city in the world". Doomed by corruption, chaos, poverty and violence, Bogotá was at urban decay. At the midst of collapse two creative politicians with radically new methods changed the city at a speed never imagined. This is the beautiful story of Antanas Mockus and Enrique Peñalosa two mayors who created citizenship, culture and democracy in a rotted city. Upfront Films in collaboration of the Danish Film Institut and DR present a film of Andreas Dalsgaard.

My latest 'Beyond Boundaries' column for The Psychologist discusses politics, social engineering and the use of mimes as a traffic calming measure. For those following the UK election, there are also elections here in Colombia, albeit to choose the president. In the running is the mathematician, philosopher and ex-Mayor of Bogotá Antanas Mockus who, whether you agree with his policies or not, is genuinely one of the most interesting politicians in the world. The (English language) documentary Cities on Speed - Bogotá Change is a fascinating account of how he and subsequent mayor Enrique Peñalosa transformed the Colombian capital into the safe, modern city it is today. You can watch the whole thing on YouTube if you want to check it out. If you've never been interested in politics or social planning before, this documentary might just pique your interest.

In 1995, the traffic in Bogotá, Colombia, was so chaotic that drivers had long since given up obeying the rules of the road, resulting in a disorderly free-for-all that was a major impediment to the city’s economy. The recently elected mayor of the city, who came to prominence after dropping his trousers to silence a hall of rioting students, decided on a creative solution to this similarly vexing problem: a troop of mimes.

Antanas Mockus realised that the people of Bogotá were more concerned about social disapproval than traffic fines, and so hired mimes to playfully reproach drivers that crossed red lights, blocked junctions and ignored pedestrian crossings. One cannot police by mimes alone and in a further measure to address driving behaviour, the mayor’s office brought in flashcards to allow social feedback. Each citizen was given a red card to signal to someone that their driving was poor and a white card to signal that the person who been particularly courteous or considerate.

is this real i wonder how long till someone beats one up or runs one down.
this is funny but will get old fast if you drive every day..lol n i thought uk was a joke

S and F

reply to post by Aceofclubs


Well it states that Bogota's crime rate is cut in half and killing rate is cut in half. Pretty impressive for just some creative urban design models -- of course they also got the rich to increase their taxes by 10% !!!!

So yeah it's real and in what was the worst megacity in the world. A real miracle!!

Ummm -- did you see the rector show his rectum to the audience of protesters? Yeah after that a miracle could finally happen. Slavoj Zizek calls that the "vanishing mediator."

having spent quite a bit of time in Bogota, the general premises of the article is correct.