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Many observers saw June’s United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, or Rio+20, as something of a disappointment. Despite environmental concern being at possibly its highest point ever, hard agreements and binding plans for dramatic environmental policy change didn’t really take shape. But, for those interested in sustainable transportation — the bikeable, walkable, bus-rideable transportation efforts many see as crucial to improving city function and quality — the conference was a smashing success.
In what can only be seen as a major coup for the field, a consortium of eight multilateral development banks pledged a total of $175 billion toward sustainable transportation over the next decade. Yes, that’s $175 billion with a B.
Behind this impressive agreement is Michael Replogle, founder and global policy director of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. He’s the guy who literally defined the term “sustainable transport” back in the ’80s. His decades of work in the field helped to make the case to the world’s biggest development banks that the economically vibrant cities of the future need more environmentally friendly transportation options than most have today.
In contrast to the typical piecemeal funding mechanisms behind progressive transportation ideas, this massive investment could dramatically advanced the concept into on-the-ground projects in cities all over the world. Replogle is the man to thank if it does.
Nate Berg is a writer and journalist covering cities, architecture and urban planning. Nate’s work has been published in a wide variety of publications, including the New York Times, NPR, Wired, Metropolis, Fast Company, Dwell, Architect, the Christian Science Monitor, LA Weekly and many others. He is a former staff writer at The Atlantic Cities and was previously an assistant editor at Planetizen.