Streetfight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution
Streetfight is a book by a woman who against big opposition, turned an area of New York City from gridlocked traffic, to a pedestrian paradise. Now it’s an area for walking, cycling, buses and green spaces.
The book is a manifesto for other places to do the same, with practical tips to make streets safer and nicer to live.
The author Janette Sadik-Khan was New York City’s transportation commissioner, and managed to achieve the impossible, transforming one of the world’s toughest cities into a place of dynamic public space that is safe for both pedestrians and walkers.
From 2007 to 2013, she closed Broadway to cars in Times Square, built nearly 400 miles of bicycle lanes and created over 60 plazas citywide. Since then, horse-drawn carriages have also been banned on animal welfare grounds.
Her ideas have now been adapted by 45 cities across North America.
Co-author Seth Solomonow is also a New York native, who brings his journalism skills to the book.
How did Janette transform New York?
- She closed congested areas of Broadway, turning them into car-free plazas with tables and chairs.
- She installed hundreds of miles of bike ways.
- She oversaw the launch of a bike-share system,
- She introduced rapid bus lines with dedicated lanes, off-board fare collection and transit-priority signals.
- She transformed underused streets and concrete islands into over 70 public neighbourhood spaces.
