Jonathan Watts from Hopkins Architects

Jonathan talked with great enthusiasm about a project he clearly enjoyed working on – the Olympic Velodrome – to be one of the four permanent venues on the Olympic Park.  Although clearly an enthusiastic track cyclist and highly involved in the project, he told us he had not been able to cycle on the circuit.  He is waiting until the the Velodrome is opened to the public, long after the Olympics are over!

ICAG members enjoy the refreshments and chat...

Catherine West with Alison Dines

We were pleased that Catherine West, Leader of the Council, was able to come along.

On behalf of Better Archway Forum, Islington Living Streets and Islington Cyclists Action Group

MAKE ARCHWAY LIVEABLE – DITCH THE ROUNDABOUT!

Better Archway Forum and Archway residents, along with Islington Living Streets and Islington Cyclists Action Group are calling on all mayoral candidates to commit to ditch the Archway roundabout if elected in May.

Campaigners are gathering for a slow walk/cycle round the roundabout on Thursday 1st March at 6.15pm. We are calling for the return of the roads to traditional two-way flow, with 20 mph limits where people live, work and shop, making the area safe for journeys on foot and by bike not just by car.

Kate Calvert of Better Archway Forum said, “Despite the traffic dominated street-scape at Archway, with eight lanes of traffic, there is a thriving community of residents and businesses who have suffered the noise, pollution and danger for ...more →]]> http://www.icag.org.uk/2012/archway-press-release/feed/ 0 http://www.icag.org.uk/2012/jan-gehl-at-riba/ http://www.icag.org.uk/2012/jan-gehl-at-riba/#comments Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:47:57 +0000 john ackers http://www.icag.org.uk/?p=1978

Danish city planner - Jan Gehl

Eminent Danish city planner Jan Gehl lectured at RIBA at the end of 2011 about creating People Friendly Cities.  He’s thoughtful, engaging, funny and passionate and the large, mainly young RIBA audience loved him. Cycling isn’t just good for cyclists, it’s good for cities.

Video part 1 People friendly cities are sustainable cities. People like seeing other people. We want lively and attractive cities. Safety and security; we hate deserted places.  A good public realm and a good public transport system are brothers.  50 happy years of  cheap petroleum are over. 1/3 of Americans will die of obesity.  Not everybody can get to the escalator that leads to the fitness centre. The car invasion in the 1960s. Traffic engineers obsessed with finding capacity for cars, as if this was the only thing that mattered.

Video part 2  Walking, cycling and public spaces.