Pontevedra, a Spanish City That Picked Pedestrians Over Cars

By The New York Times (Europe) | Created at 2024-09-25 05:48:09 | Updated at 2024-09-30 07:33:01 5 days ago

Climate|Pontevedra, a Spanish City That Picked Pedestrians Over Cars

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/25/climate/pontevedra-pedestrians-cars.html

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For over two decades the city’s mayor has reclaimed public space for people and limited vehicles in the city center, which reduced traffic and improved air quality.

A view of a city street, with people walking in the road and, in the center, a child in a blue toy car, crosses the road.

By Tanya Mohn

Photographs by Matilde Viegas

Sept. 25, 2024, 1:30 a.m. ET

This article is part of a special section on the Climate Forward conference hosted by The New York Times.

Pontevedra may be a smaller city in northwest Spain, but it has been a pioneer in favoring pedestrians over cars for more than 20 years. The city has played a large role in inspiring other municipalities and continues to be a model on how to successfully confront the challenges of climate change by reducing traffic and cutting emissions.

When Mayor Miguel Anxo Fernández Lores was elected in 1999, Pontevedra embarked on a quest to transform itself into a city that supports clean air, walkability and safe streets. Since then, it has received international recognition and numerous awards for sustainability mobility, road safety and urban design.

Officials, architects and urban planners in dozens of cities in Europe, North and South America, and Asia, have made inquiries and traveled to Pontevedra — including a recent visit from a delegation from Suncheon, South Korea — to learn about its achievements.

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Mayor Miguel Anxo Fernández Lores of Pontevedra was elected in 1999. “We wanted a city for people, a compact city where all the basic services and shops would be within a five-minute walk, accessible to everyone,” he said.Credit...Matilde Viegas for The New York Times

In a video interview, the mayor spoke about the steps taken by the city and if they can be replicated elsewhere. The conversation, interpreted by Pontevedra’s general director of mobility, Jesús Gómez Viñas, and general director of security, Daniel Macenlle, has been edited and condensed.

You described Pontevedra as a “car warehouse” in 1999. Why?

The city center was overcrowded by private cars and congested. Noise, pollution and safety risk were high. The whole municipality is about 120 square kilometers [about 46 square miles], with just under 85,000 people, about 80 percent of them living in the historic center, where every day the number of vehicles trying to enter was three times more than Madrid and five times more than London.

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