Tracing the Growth of the Open Streets Movement

A new documentary from Streetfilms explores how open streets events–which repurpose public spaces for people, rather than vehicles–have grown over the past several decades throughout South and North America.

1 minute read

January 12, 2014, 5:00 AM PST

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


"'The Rise of Open Streets' examines the open streets movement from myriad perspectives -- how it began, how events are run, how they shape people's perceptions of their streets, and how creating car-free space, even temporarily, benefits people's lives," writes Clarence Eckerson, Jr. "And it looks not only at big cities like Los Angeles, but smaller ones like Fargo, Berkeley, and Lexington."

The film below features interviews with some of the movement's central figures, including: former NYC DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, former Chicago DOT Commissioner Gabe Klein, former Bogota Parks Commissioner Gil Penalosa, and Enrique Jacoby, from the Pan American Health Organization.

The Rise of Open Streets from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014 in Streetfilms

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