Your monthly roundup of news, tools, and events from the world of 8 80 Cities.

From the 8 80 Blog: 8 Questions with Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam

In 8 Questions, 8 80 Cities asks amazing partners we’ve worked with, or amazing people doing amazing work 8 questions about their passions, their history, and their amazing-ness. And then we ask them to suggest a question for our next interviewee.

This week, 8 80 Cities Project Manager, David Simor spoke to Toronto City Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam about her approach to community engagement, active citizenship, and how governmental systems aren’t designed for inclusion.

Philadelphia: Designing for Ages 8 to 80

A recipient of the annual Emerging City Champions Fellowship, Dena Ferrara Driscoll walks us through how Philadelphia could be better designed for its most vulnerable citizens. Put on our “8 80 goggles” and see what our cities can do.

The 95cm Perspective

"It takes a village to...". You probably know the end of this phrase ("... to raise a child"). Well, the city of Tel Aviv is taking this seriously with the Urban 95 Programme; they are trying to make children under 5 be more visible in municipal policy and strategy. Daniella Ben-Attar, Bernard Van Leer Foundation Country Representative for Israel, explains.

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How Seville Got its Bicycle Network
As recently as 2006, almost no one in Seville got around by bicycle and the city's bike network was nearly nonexistent. When the leaders of this city of 700,000 decided to make bicycling a viable transportation option, they didn't mess around - they built an 80km bike network in just 18 months - and that was just the beginning. Clarence Eckerson Jr. explores.

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An Illustrated History of the Picnic Table
Think 'the picnic table' is a boring topic for an article?

Author Martin Hogue doesn't agree. He calls the popular seat an "icon of vernacular design" and "ingenious".

To back up these statements, Hogue has written an endearing historical ode to the ubiquitous public seat.

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Open Streets TO are back!

Join the fun on Sun. Aug. 19 and Sun. Sep. 16, 2018
(10am - 2pm)

Find out about the route, volunteering opportunities and more, here.

We Designed Canada's Cities for Cars, Not People - and the People are Dying

Jennifer Keesmaat, CEO of Creative Housing, former chief planner of Toronto, and now Toronto Mayoral Candidate, writes an article that is a call to action to stop pedestrian and cycling fatalities in Toronto once and for all. Her article challenges the common belief that people have developed over 100 years of marketing that cars give us personal liberty. As consequence, the design of cities and streets are centred around this myth. Let’s break this belief and make cities safe for Toronto’s cyclists and pedestrians, and for all. It’s a choice. In this article learn how other cities have proactively redesigned streets with people's safety as their number one priority.

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The Open Streets Project is partnering with Walk Bike Places and the City of Gretna to deliver an educational Open Streets Summit in Gretna and New Orleans, from September 15-16 2018.

Speakers have been announced, spaces are filling up quickly!

Register for the Open Streets Summit only or Register for Walk Bike Places 2018 AND the Open Streets Summit.

Need advice? Have a seat with a Senior

Need advice on your job, dating, travel? Have a seat with a friendly local senior and soak up their wisdom. As Julia Knope explains, members of a retirement community have set up shop on a local park bench, offering a friendly chat and some free time-tested advice to members of the community. To hear more about this wonderful age-friendly initiative, read on!

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