Matthew Ephraim 💻 🚲Nov 28, 2022
stux⚡️
How much public space we've surrendered to cars (Swedish artist Karl Jilg)
Nov 28, 2022 at 9:29amWeb
Show threadMitch Gibson 🇬🇧 🇮🇲 🇪🇺Nov 28, 2022

@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.

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”
Show threadNic Oh_nlein! Nov 28, 2022
@stux
That's gorgeous!
Show threadLunatic MothNov 28, 2022
@stux I want to draw dragons or something flying through the concrete canyons
Show threadEvelynNov 28, 2022
@Lunatic_Moth @stux It would be cool to see car-dragons in the street-canyons. 🏎🐉
Show threadLunatic MothNov 28, 2022
@gorfram @stux They'd probably be way more efficient and less polluting, honestly.
Show thread🌻🌻🌻Nov 28, 2022
@stux I love this piece and think of it often.
Show threadIan Bog'SteNov 28, 2022
@stux now that's clever!
Show threadFons GoudsmitNov 28, 2022
@stux
Looks a little less safe than walking on the sidewalk in a busy street!
Show threadBenjamin JonesDec 2, 2022
@Fogomet @stux except a canyon can't drive off the road and hit you!
Show threadFons GoudsmitDec 3, 2022
@benjaminpaikjones @stux
Astonishing 😀
Show threadwordherderNov 28, 2022
@stux in the US, those wouldn’t be planks: they’d be tightropes
Show thread1 3₂+7Nov 28, 2022
@wordherder @stux So true
Show threadPritpalNov 28, 2022
@stux if the governments provided better transportation no one ever think of buying cars.
Show threadtreekeeperNov 28, 2022
@stux To be fair, 150 years ago the same cartoon could have read "Look how much space we've surrendered to horse drawn carriages". The important thing is being able to power our transportation sustainably so in 150 years the cartoon doesn't read look how much of our city we've surrendered to the ocean. #sustainable #renewables #EV #commonsense #globalwarming
Show threadSara Joy Nov 28, 2022
@treekeeper @stux I mean yesss... but there are old clips showing people milling about on foot, and bikes, and carriages, and trams - all using the roads at the same time because it wasn't so incredibly dangerous as it is now.
Show threadVAFNov 28, 2022
@sarajw @treekeeper @stux I have those pictures for an exemple if you want(same place in Prague. In front of the train station)
Show threadSara Joy Nov 28, 2022

@xVAF @treekeeper @stux Right? Even with early cars around, the roads are far less stressful. Then, there were far fewer people in general...

I was thinking of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEvB_ZIWtAg

San Francisco - 1906 in HD

YouTube
Show threadVAFNov 28, 2022
@sarajw @treekeeper @stux i mean early cars don't seem much dangerous cause there is so few of them. And in the USA there are cities that didn't grow much (less 100k in 100 years) had Public transport and decided to destroy it and put in roads. You can also have big cities with great public transport and few cars in them.
Show threadSieva 🚴🚇🏙️🌹Nov 28, 2022
@treekeeper @stux It's not about power sources, but about public spaces and safety. EVs are still cars, and many areas should be taken away from them.
Show thread1 3₂+7Nov 28, 2022
@Anibyl @treekeeper @stux Yes!
Show threadNiklas VanhainenNov 28, 2022
@treekeeper @stux Not really, 150 years ago, streets were shared, this separation is something that has developed over the last 100 years.
Show threadAlanPooleNov 28, 2022
@stux one day you will complain when your Plumber or electrician or those that need tools and ladders , just cant do any jobs you want doing , and no one will come out in the cold rain and snow .
Show threadMatthias AulbachNov 29, 2022
@Alanpoole @stux The point is not necessarily to ban cars altogether but to make the road a space that all can use, as some other commenters have pointed out. This mainly implies limiting private driving in cities - the occasional plumber driving through is not at all the problem :)
Show threadIris Richardson Fine Art 🇩🇪🇺🇸📷Nov 28, 2022
@stux Love this and so true
Show threadNicholas RNov 28, 2022
@stux Yikes.
Show thread317537 is Leslie upside-down!Nov 28, 2022
@stux provocative! Thank you for this perspective.
Show threadLouieNov 28, 2022
@stux Most urban planners are car-centric
Show threadLord Robson-Hemmings of WokeNov 28, 2022
@stux that’s a very striking image
Show threadMellyCumberbatchNov 28, 2022
@stux love this perspective. Now add the PM10 air particles to the air we breath because of cars.
Show threadNeoNov 28, 2022
🤔
Show threadBarry Schwartz 🫖Nov 28, 2022
@stux There used to be trollies there, though!
Show threadFabion 📚Nov 28, 2022
@stux this is the first time I see this painting along its author's name 
Show threadHaskyFanNov 28, 2022
@stux Yeah. Sad truth(
Show threadFokkoRijkensNov 28, 2022
@stux Humming Top| 1990 | Collection LEGO
Show threadSara Joy Nov 28, 2022

@stux
I was thinking about this - not this image, but the concept of so much space having been surrendered to cars - just yesterday.

I was driving a car-share car, and being super careful because I just don't drive so often now. I used to drive a lot and think nothing of it - but now I'm ever more aware of what a dangerous thing I am doing, and of just how much cars dominate our spaces because of how dangerous they are to people's lives.

No conclusion, just, ugh.

Show threadCraig StewartNov 28, 2022
@stux …bicycles, scooters, taxis, buses, trams…
Show threadNiklas VanhainenNov 28, 2022
@craigmstewart @stux Unless you're in a place like the Netherlands, bicycles and scooters are second class or even third class citizens of the street. Cars dominate everywhere you go. Just take a look around your own city and try to estimate how much space is used solely by cars, including parking, and how much space could be freed for other uses without them.
Show threadEithne70Nov 28, 2022
@stux oh, so good!