<div class="continues show-for-small-only">
<small>Article continues below</small>
</div>
<aside class="series-aside right">
<div class="series-aside__header">
More in <a class="" href="https://grist.org/series/climate-in-the-time-of-corona/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=grist" >this series</a>
</div>
<div class="series-aside__item">
<a class="series-aside__link" href="https://grist.org/climate/is-nature-all-healed-now-a-look-at-the-pandemics-best-meme/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=grist" >
Is nature all healed now? A look at the pandemic’s best meme. </a>
</div>
<div class="series-aside__item">
<a class="series-aside__link" href="https://grist.org/justice/its-getting-hot-in-here-can-nyc-keep-seniors-cool-during-covid/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=grist" >
It’s getting hot in here: Can NYC keep seniors cool during COVID? </a>
</div>
<div class="series-aside__item">
<a class="series-aside__link" href="https://grist.org/climate/un-gives-airlines-a-break-on-emissions-targets-because-duh-covid-19/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=grist" >
UN gives airlines a break on emissions targets because, duh, COVID-19 </a>
</div>
</aside>
The task force was formed this April by C40 Cities, a network of more than 90 of the world’s major cities committed to tackling climate change. Giuseppe Sala, the mayor of Milan, is the chair of the task force, which was created to establish an international effort to rebuild urban economies and infrastructure in a way that would reduce different forms of inequality, strengthen public health, and simultaneously address different causes of the climate crisis.
On the transportation front, the task force recommends expanding public transportation by deploying electric buses as well as adding railway and bike lanes. It also calls for the creation of so-called 15-minute cities, where residents “are able to meet most of their needs within a short walk or bicycle ride from their homes.” This paradigm involves the creation of new green spaces and permanent walking and cycling networks throughout cities. The task force’s recommendations suggest that these infrastructure improvements and others (like retrofitting old buildings for more efficient energy usage) could improve job opportunities for residents as well as lower emissions.
Car-centric cities are squarely in the sights of this recovery plan. It calls for cities to “give streets back to people, by permanently reallocating more road space to walking and cycling.” Some major cities have closed streets to cars during the pandemic to enable pedestrians to more easily engage in social distancing, but such measures have often been minor and piecemeal. The Global Mayors COVID-19 Recovery Task Force wants them expanded and made permanent.
“This is a reckoning for all of us for how we live and how we plan to live,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said during a press call on Wednesday. “Returning to normal is not the goal.”
This story was originally published by Grist with the headline The world’s mayors want a pandemic recovery that takes cars off the streets on Jul 15, 2020.