City planners should treat streets like prime real estate, says a visiting New York City transportation commissioner.
Janette Sadik-Khan, who gave the keynote address at SFU City Program's Shifting Gears lecture series last night, says a long-term vision, which is inclusive of all forms of transportation, is essential to having world class cities create world class spaces.
"It's more than just looking at our streets as utilitarian corridors that just move cars as quickly as possible from point A to point B," she says. "We really should view them as some of most important spaces for design and plan for them accordingly."
Regional transit authority TransLink is well ahead of the curve, according to Sadik-Khan.
"The fact that you have a seamless transportation system and you've got coordinated transportation and land use planning is something that cities, I think, across the world aspire to," she said. "I'm looking to bring those lessons back to New York."
