Amongst cities in middle-income countries, Bogotá, Colombia and Guangzhou, China are two that may seem to be vastly different. Nevertheless, both cities are united in facing an urgent challenge: growing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting from, among other sectors, their urban transport systems. Bogotá’s cars and vehicles emit a big share of the 14,000 tonnes of carbon entering the city’s atmosphere daily from its nearly 8 million inhabitants. Guangzhou, with a population of over 15 million, was named as the city with the second highest carbon footprint in the world in 2018. At the same time, both cities are also setting an important example for other global cities in their approach to one sustainable, low-carbon form of transport — cycling. As both cities seek to drastically reduce their emissions and tackle climate change, they can offer valuable lessons for others hoping to also promote cycling as an essential mode of transport.
The post Protected Cycle Lane Networks Can Make a Big Impact on Climate Change first appeared on Institute for Transportation and Development Policy.
