Dean Venables Profile picture
Sep 26, 2019 11 tweets 7 min read Read on X
1/
Here’s a little thread about mobility & liveable neighbourhoods. I’ll call it

THE WOMAN & THE WALL

#Ballincollig has a magnificent park, the #RegionalPark. The park has riverside & woodland walks, playing fields, playgrounds, & historical buildings. It’s well used & loved. Image
2/
Recently, the central path in the park was extended to a new eastern entrance, making it accessible from new neighbourhoods.

Nearby residents want to use it. Image
3/
But what will people do when they are walled off from the most direct way to the park? Will they take the long way around?

Or will they do something else? Image
4/
What I’ve seen is that ordinary residents engage in a little pro-social vandalism – destroying barriers to create a better neighbourhood. Someone removed the coping from the top of a wall & made a makeshift step to climb over the wall. Image
5/
I haven’t seen everyone who uses it. But I did see a mom and her two young kids climb over the wall. And pass over a scooter. And a doll pram. Image
6/
Others must think that’s a great idea. Because a few metres further, the people of the next street did exactly the same thing.

I don’t usually support vandalism. In this case, I’ll make an exception. Image
7/
But there’s a problem.

Not everyone can climb walls. Children in buggies. The mobility impaired. People on bikes. Dog-walkers. Those with injuries. Shoppers. Pregnant women. The elderly.

And the wall wouldn’t deter those bent on trouble. Image
8/
There’s an obvious solution. A better solution. Knock an opening in that wall & put a path through it.

That would allow people walking or cycling to get around more easily and enjoy their neighbourhood more.

This is #permeability.
9/
#Permeability is really important. It makes for more inclusive & liveable neighbourhoods. It allows people to get around more easily. It increases accessibility but not car & truck traffic. Having an attractive alternative to driving will actually reduce traffic volumes. Image
10/
Cork city now has a new transport strategy. Increasing neighbourhood permeability has to be the simplest, cheapest, & quickest measure to improve mobility in the city.

That’s an easy win. And I know of at least one woman & her kids who will benefit! Image

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More from @DeanVenables

Oct 3, 2020
Some comments as an atmospheric/AQ scientist on cyber trees & Cork city #airquality:
1ST
It’s a huge positive that AQ is being seriously discussed. @corkcitycouncil is doing innovative monitoring work (incl. with us in @craclabucc) & it’s good to see cllrs engage with the problem
2ND
That’s important because local AQ is a HUGE problem.
E.g., my rough calcs on premature deaths (city & county):
Road deaths (2019)=15
Covid = 50 (@ 25/7)
AQ = 80 (metro only)...a quick pro-capita est. from natl figures. It’s likely higher in Cork city.
And that’s EVERY year
3RD
It’s a simple problem in Cork:
Solid-fuel burning. Too many cars (including BEVs).
The solution is to reduce emissions.
You can’t effectively clean the air once pollutants are there with expensive gadgetry. The first priority must always be to stop/reduce emissions.
Read 18 tweets
Sep 19, 2020
@CorkCyclingCrew's submission on CMATS was extremely critical of cycling modal share. We termed it "introtrovertibly flawed" & "professionally indefensible".
Here's why:
@cyclistie @LimerickCycling @GalwayCycling @dublincycling @IBIKECork @EamonRyan
1) It used out of date census data, 2011, not 2016!. If this was a research thesis, this would require major revisions & complete reworking of data.

As a result...
2) CMATS was ignorant (!) of the most striking feature of the 2016 report on Commuting in Ireland, the huge increase of 43% in cycle modal share since 2011 & likely the biggest modal shift in Irish history.
Cork specifically had seen strong growth in cycling in the last decade.
Read 10 tweets
Aug 20, 2020
1/4
Just got in my comments for Cork’s draft development plan.
Have you? It’s at
bit.ly/2YiNS1Z
Deadline Friday 4pm

I highlighted sustainability & green issues as vital.
Transport, health, development, & green spaces are esp important. Image
2/4
That’s why I called for Lee to Sea greenway to be prioritized as a flagship project.
bit.ly/3em6iWc
It really delivers for commuting, tourism, leisure. It hits multiple national, international, & local goals & policies— sustainable cities, health/wellbeing & climate Image
3/4
Lee to Sea can be delivered in 1/10th of time & 2% (!!!) of the cost of a tram line, while doing more for city mobility overall.

Ditto delivering a proper cycle network asap. It works elsewhere in similar cities & will work in Cork.
Read 4 tweets
May 7, 2020
On cleaning streets & public health, here's a quote from @TheAtlantic:
James Hamblin, our health reporter;
"The speculation is that some of this was hygiene theater to make people feel more safe by showing them this big, strong government response...."
"...The only theoretical way that it could possibly matter is if people are walking around seeding the sidewalks with coughs and sneezes, and you walk on it and get a little bit on your shoe, and then walk into your house and then touch your floor...."
"I could see spraying down any [high-contact] surfaces, like walking into the subway and spraying that down every hour. I’m hoping everybody is doing their best to take off shoes every time they come into their home and not touching the bottoms of them and also ..."
Read 4 tweets
Apr 16, 2020
The @CorkCyclingCrew interactive map of proposed extension to bike sharing scheme locations is here bit.ly/321AGO0.
Check it out!
For each new location, the group identified trip attractors, likely users, & condition of nearby cycling lanes. Image
Stations were aligned with the scheme's spacing philosophy & with evidence from Philip Lowney's real-time Cork scheme data:
bit.ly/2RFMrHS
All in all, I believe @corkcyclingcampaign proposals are still compelling.
One weakness is that that a connection to Blackpool is missing. However, Lower St John St has huge potential in this regard. (And thanks to @kevburkeie for drawing to attention to this route's potential.)
Read 5 tweets
Feb 28, 2020
1/
Monday 9 March we’ll welcome @KHayhoe to Cork for 2 climate talks. Katharine is a leading climatologist & science communicator. She’s also a person of faith.
I’m esp. excited about the 8pm Christians in Science lecture b/c it touches my work as a scientist & my Christian faith Image
2/
As a scientist, I study how light interacts with gases & particles in air. These interactions drive climate change. Research questions remain but not these core findings:
(1) our climate is changing
(2) people’s actions are the cause

We’ve known this for decades! Image
3/
The results of climate change are awful:
It will add to the misery of the poor, destroy ecosystems, & harm millions.
Just ask people who’ve suffered continent-wide fires, unprecedented hurricanes, & extreme weather.

The science is clear—the question is, how do we respond? Image
Read 7 tweets

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