Proper urban planning is an extremely high leverage, under-appreciated intervention. Just for one example, the impact of car-oriented infrastructure on the poor:
Recent estimates put the median individual monthly income in Jakarta at ~$115 USD. It's impossible to support a car on this income, and making places difficult, unsafe, or impossible to reach on foot, by bike, or via public transit creates a huge barrier for low income people to do basic things.
In richer countries like the US, where cars are the only reasonable transportation option in many areas, this amounts to a several thousand dollar per year imposed cost on everyone who can afford them (even barely) and creates a massive cliff for access to jobs, healthy food, etc for everyone who can't.
That's not to mention the economic cost of all city infrastructure being spread out, the environmental cost, the social cost of disconnecting neighborhoods, and on and on
Great article, thanks for sharing this.
Proper urban planning is an extremely high leverage, under-appreciated intervention. Just for one example, the impact of car-oriented infrastructure on the poor:
Recent estimates put the median individual monthly income in Jakarta at ~$115 USD. It's impossible to support a car on this income, and making places difficult, unsafe, or impossible to reach on foot, by bike, or via public transit creates a huge barrier for low income people to do basic things.
In richer countries like the US, where cars are the only reasonable transportation option in many areas, this amounts to a several thousand dollar per year imposed cost on everyone who can afford them (even barely) and creates a massive cliff for access to jobs, healthy food, etc for everyone who can't.
That's not to mention the economic cost of all city infrastructure being spread out, the environmental cost, the social cost of disconnecting neighborhoods, and on and on