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Good day my good friend.
I was a little late back from walking the dog this morning. So just the two stories for you today. Let’s get to it.
James
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The impact of instant delivery on our cities is still uncertain, but we approach it with certainty still
A new article by CityLab explores the impacts that instant delivery services are having on the makeup of our streets, in this case urban retail spaces. Its an article I am uncomfortable with, mainly because the evidence seems to be “look, more of this is happening ok?” There is some evidence that online retail can reduce the total number of trips, including retail trips.
Does this mean that we will ‘lose’ our city centres? Now, that is where the evidence is lacking. Evidence from the UK has shown that High Streets are shifting in their function away from retail to multifunctional centres mixing retail, social spaces, and public services. So why do we say that we know that instant delivery will kill city centres? Our cities have survived far worse than UberEats you know.
The public transport system map is dead. Long live the public transport system map.
Jarrett Walker just published a post that makes the strong case for retaining public transport system maps. His core argument is that while the likes of Google Maps and apps may be more convenient, a good public transport map shows you what is possible to achieve with your public transport system. This is certainly backed up by research in that they can play a role in filling knowledge gaps of people’s cities.
Maps play a huge role in how we see our city. So much so that people often trust the system map more than they do their own experience in terms of travel times. Not to mention the fact that they are often more accessible in terms of helping people’s understanding of the system. And there is no better example of that, than what I consider to be the best peice of public transport information of all time.
Random things
Some stuff from the internet.
AI debates its own ethics at Oxford University, concludes the only way to be safe is “no AI at all” (ZME Science)
Airlines Back Embraer eVTOL Subsidiary’s Plans to Go Public (AIN Online)
Peru PM urges residents to unblock road used by Bambas mine by Wednesday (Reuters)
Interesting things
Remember what cycling around was like during lockdown? This film reminds us what our cities could look like. Another world for us to aim for.
If you do nothing else today, then do this
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