CityLab Daily: The Case for the Slow City

Slow and steady: As many American cities search for ways to improve road safety, the quickest answer may be to slow down. From creating slow zones to installing signs that remind drivers to ease up on the gas, the case for a fundamentally slower city is gaining traction. That’s largely because lower speeds offer anyone involved in a vehicle collision—drivers, passengers, bicyclists, pedestrians—a much better chance of surviving without sustaining serious injuries.

Speed kills in an abstract way, too. Ever-widening urban highways tear neighborhoods apart in their futile pursuit of quicker commutes for suburbanites, while new technologies like hyperloop tunnels and “flying taxis” promise congestion workarounds for whoever can afford them. By just establishing a more forgiving pace on city streets, though, urbanites can begin to think about making livable places instead of fighting for space. It’s an idea as old as the tortoise and the hare. Here’s my piece today on CityLab: The Case for the Slow City