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The Planetizen News Brief

5 July 2007 - 7:00am
Smart City Radio

The Planetizen News Brief is a weekly rundown of some of the most interesting and important news and issues of the past week.

The Planetizen News Brief airs every week on the nationally-syndicated radio program "Smart City", which is broadcast in cities across the U.S. Learn more about Smart City and listen to archived shows.

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Full Transcript

Aging half a century can take its toll on a city. Of the 20 biggest American cities in 1950, 16 have seen their populations decline over the last 57 years. The former glory of these American cities of the postwar age has been drained as the manufacturing economy has steadily trailed off. U.S. Census figures show that many cities, especially those in the Midwest, have lost significant amounts of people since 1950. Cities like Detroit, Cleveland and St. Louis have lost more than half of their populations in that time. And while once-distant areas like Phoenix and Las Vegas have taken over as new population centers, many urban experts say that the older, more established cities will still be able compete, even with diminished populations.

And in a city that embodies the growth-encouraging power of freeways, the days of free driving may be coming to an end. Los Angeles may follow the lead of many other American cities and install congestion pricing and toll road systems on its iconic cram-packed freeways. The L.A. Times reports that county officials agreed recently to look into the concept of highway toll roads – a decision that was influenced by the county’s painful loss of federal grant money due to the fact that it had no congestion pricing plans. But in a county with one of the largest income gaps between the rich and the poor, many say toll roads will hurt more than they help.

And in other mixed-blessing news, carmakers in India have announced plans to manufacture new cars that will retail for just $3,000. The Independent reports that the car companies are looking to cash in on the country’s growing middle-class population with affordably priced vehicles, including the $3,000 model which has been dubbed the “People’s Car”. And though the creation of this cheap resource is welcomed by many looking to increase their social status in a rapidly commercializing country, many are worried about how the resulting flood of cars will affect the nation’s small, crowded and severely under-maintained roads. Rickshaws, bicycles, peddlers and livestock typically fill the space on many of the country’s single-lane roads. But with the amount of car registrations increasing by 16% in recent years and widely expected to increase by even more when the $3,000 models are available next year, Indian roadways are only beginning to live up to the term “traffic jam”.

Stories discussed in this week's Planetizen News Brief

While U.S. Grows, Historic Cities Shrink

So Long To L.A.'s Freeways?

Can The Planet Afford A $3000 Car?

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"To ignore this space is shortsighted." -- Jennifer Wolch, Director of the USC Center for Sustainable Cities
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