stux⚡️Nov 28, 2022
How much public space we've surrendered to cars (Swedish artist Karl Jilg)
Show threadMitch Gibson 🇬🇧 🇮🇲 🇪🇺

@stux
A bit disingenuous. Cars aren't our Evil Robot Overlords. We re-purposed the space to people.

People in horses and carts... and cars, and buses, and bikes, and trams.

It's where we are as a society. It wasn't always that way, it won't always be that way.

Nov 28, 2022 at 9:34amWeb
Show threadezNov 28, 2022

@mitgibs @stux

Cars are animals that borrowed humans for brains.

Show threadCO DomNov 28, 2022
@ezchili @mitgibs @stux in that case, cars are the most economically contributing animal and we are the most dependent on it. It has defeated the horse, and so far no replacement is in sight, I think the biggest failure point of cars is the actual “brain”, the advanced primate driving this machine, multiplied by billions of other primates, will cause a significant amount of problems.
Show threadPaulYyzNov 29, 2022
@CODom @ezchili @mitgibs @stux Just to be very clear. Most people didn’t have a horse or have access to a horse. Cars defeated walkable cities, transit including intercity trains, bicycles and density.
Show threadCO DomNov 29, 2022
@PaulYyz @ezchili @mitgibs @stux Comparing feudal times with modern capitalism is not a sensible thing to do in the first place, demand is still roughly the same, but supply improved a lot over the years.
Show threadPaulYyzNov 29, 2022
@CODom @ezchili @mitgibs @stux I don’t know where feudal entered the car conversation but for the past 100 years, cars have dominated North American development, planning and society. We live to support the automobiles appetite for space, energy, and human lives. I’ll leave this conversation as I need to DRIVE to my job. I didn’t always think this way but the #OrangePill has come for me.
Show threadCO DomNov 29, 2022
@PaulYyz @ezchili @mitgibs @stux I’ve forgotten about the American side of this problem, here in Europe it’s much closer to the optimal car to non-car transport ratio, and considering this is a Swedish artist, I don’t think there is a lot you can do by anti-car policies here in europe.
Often I am quite shocked when I look at US cities on google maps and see the area designated for parking.
Show threadAlex GranfordNov 28, 2022
@mitgibs @stux Absolutely this. Also another angle to drive people angry and upset about other people, even though we are one society and we won’t be able to maintain our living standards without transportation.
Show thread1 3₂+7Nov 28, 2022
@alexgranford You claim that we won't be able to maintain standard of living without transportation, but cars are nowhere near the most space efficient, fast, or reliable form of transportation. The art shows how much public space where interactions and exercise and such have been given up to inefficient hunks of metal that low quality of life.
Show threadAlex GranfordNov 28, 2022
@leet Next art would surely portrait someone appalled with cars, delivering few pallets of groceries to a local shop on a bike. Even if from a local train stop, not a logistics hub… Can’t wait.
Show thread1 3₂+7Nov 28, 2022
@alexgranford This does not seem a bad thing, and you forget the idea of public transport, he might even get a special license to drive a truck or something safely to deliver the goods. The reduction of cars, not the abolition of transportation, mate.
Show threadAlex GranfordNov 28, 2022

@leet No problem to use a car less if public transport allows us getting around. in fact we do already a lot, train to work, bus to school. But buses in rural England is a flipping disaster costing a fortune and almost never on time with an hour interval in between - between 7am to 10pm.

Also, same public transport and trucks will use the same road infrastructure and will keep pedestrians on pavements still. So that picture is very misleading and misguided, hence the challenge.

Show thread1 3₂+7Nov 28, 2022
@alexgranford No, when there is a tram and a truck, you can still walk in the street. When there is 500 cars lined up and ready to hit you a 60mph, you can't. There is a big difference between a pedestrian city with services and a car hellscape where if you step out of a 1m area you die (only a slight exaggeration is some cities.)
Show threadSieva 🚴🚇🏙️🌹Nov 28, 2022
@mitgibs @stux Maybe that's a clever way to put it, but it doesn't contradict the initial statement.
Show threadVAFNov 28, 2022
@mitgibs @stux i have an exemple for you. This the same place in Prague, before the cars there was public transport walkable streets and space for people. Now it's a place always filled with trafic. Cars will always be needed because public transport isn't suited for everything (ex:a remote village where 6 people live). U can greatly diminish cars in city thanks to public transport. AND NO we didn't re-purpose space We created a horrible place for cars.
Show threadPrehistoric GothNov 28, 2022
@xVAF @mitgibs @stux there can be more of a proper balance in regards to cars and public transport. So far, that balance is overall improper, as illustrated and discussed. Other places could benefit plenty from more public transport, however funding and design goes against it. This also would create less hostile environments overall - the case now with the current layouts.
More focus on public transport would also help people like me, who cannot drive due to disability
Show threadPrehistoric GothNov 28, 2022
@xVAF @mitgibs @stux and when I say balance, there are too many places that should be putting public transport first, but don’t. Though people in the country who can’t drive should still have equal access. Car first transport makes it difficult for those, no matter the reason, who cannot drive
Show threadRyanNov 28, 2022
@mitgibs @stux the problem is that the spaces in cities and towns that used to be for community with businesses, schools, homes and parks that were all walkable distances from one another are now roads and streets and parking lots. It hurts any sense of community you might have and makes poor people hurt because they need a car or public transportation in order to get anywhere. The entire model of a car-first city was built because of lobbying by car manufacturers.
Show threadNiklas VanhainenNov 28, 2022
@mitgibs @stux Before cars took over, the streets were shared between pedestrians, carts, streetcars, etc. Now, we've surrendered most of our streets entirely and pedestrians are relegated to tiny areas called sidewalks. In some cities in the world (the US especially), there aren't even sidewalks and pedestrians are simply not welcome.
Show thread🏳️‍⚧️ Siobhán SarelleNov 28, 2022

@mitgibs @stux

People in horses?!

Show threadPat ClementsNov 29, 2022
@mitgibs @stux most of us spend our lives inside metal cages because it’s too dangerous even on the sidewalk. “Only the poor or the heroic will use the space outside our cars”