Cities' Progress

Things always look clearer in perspective. And at the same time we typically do not see when something moves on continuously at what seems to be a very slow speed. Living in a city you basically wake up everyday and the city everyday is the same. No change, no progress.

But move out for a bit longer and come back. Then the changes are clear. If there are changes.

Since the pandemic eased out this Spring, I have returned to fairly frequent business travel. I know, I know, this is bad for the environment, but to my excuse the result of that travel is makin much more good for the environment - through the massive energy savings our software enables. So I feel absolved to some extent. And yes, the pandemic has done a loot of good for the environment too, by enabling videoconferencing as the primary means of doing business. But still some things work a lot better when you meet face to face. Especially conventions and trade shows when you meet new people. It is still hard to meet new people over Zoom or Teams.

But back to the cities - going to the US always feels to some extent like going back in time. Things look old there. And judging by movies and photographs, many cities in the US look like they did 50 or even 100 years ago. Take San Francisco as an example. Cars are maybe a bit different, but everything looks the same. Shockingly the same. Equally is New York or just about every other American city: cars, 4-way stops, more cars.

In Poland, living just outside of Krakow, I do not dive into the city center that often. This helps noticing the changes. The initial impression is this city (as many other European cities) is so much different from an American city. And the second impression is it has been changing and transforming rapidly. Transforming to really become a better place to live. Mostly by expelling out cars. Recuperating the space for pedestrians and bicycles. And improving (a lot!) the already good public transport system. In an American city there are basically two modes of travel: driving a car (own or rental) or riding a car (Uber or taxi). In Europe it is mostly public transport (busses, trams, metro) and personal mobility - bikes and electric scooters.

Cars are super inefficient. You need to move 2 tons of steel to carry a person. A bus is an order of magnitude more efficient - 200kg per person. And one bus is shared bu thousands of people every day - whenever they need it. A car typically is not, and thus requires a parking space. A space taken from people who simply have less room to live.

I wonder when this starts changing (if at all) in America? Will a typical US city in 2120 look the same, only the cars will have yokes and will be driverless? This seems to be the most far reaching American vision.