“If all citizens are equal, a pedestrian has a right to the same amount of road space as somebody in a Porsche ...
if all citizens are equal, somebody on a bicycle has a right to the same amount of road space as somebody in a luxury car. If all people are equal, a bus with 100 passengers has a right to a 100 times more road space than a car with one.” So says former Bogotá Mayor Enrique Peñalosa, while speaking at the Honourable Maurice Facey Lecture 2024, hosted by The C.
B. Facey Foundation at the S Hotel in Kingston. This was reported in The Gleaner of October 15, 2024 under the captioned, ‘Former Bogotá Mayor advocates for people-centred development in Jamaica’.
THIS, FOR many, would not be considered a topic for a sermon, a church conference, a Bible study group, or even one of interest to many pastors. However, if we understand that the development of a people is inseparable from tailoring the built environment for all citizens, we will get why Peñalosa’s call should be of interest to people of religious faith. We too often hear a preoccupation with preparation for heaven, rather than the advancing of our local contexts as havens for heavenly affirmations of peace and justice for all.
In a culture where success is marked by name-brand vehicles and material possessions, many of us will find the Maurice Facey Lecture 2024, to be an inconvenient intrusion in our psychological spaces of progress. Who wants their high-end vehicle to be without sprawling high.