Making a Walking Paradise Out of a Car-Centric City

Nearly every western city had a period in the mid to late twentieth century where its urban form was built, or retrofitted, around personal automobile travel. Madrid, Spain is in that category. The Spanish capital suffered from car-choked streets, hazardous vehicle emissions, and lack of walkability for much of the last several decades.

But the city has turned things around. This video explores all the recent changes Madrid has made to curb motor vehicle travel and improve transportation options -- especially walkability. Join your intrepid host on a tour of the latest and greatest, including the city's Madrid 360 climate initiative, newly pedestrianized areas, and the Madrid Rio linear park, which replaced a surface freeway along the Manzanares River -- as well as a review of the lovely Madrid Metro.

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Previous CityNerd Videos Referenced:
- Living Car-Free In Las Vegas: What Was I Thinking?    • Live Car-Free In the Sun Belt Challen...  

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Resources:
- Madrid 360: https://www.madrid.es/portales/munima...
- "Closing Central Madrid To Cars Resulted In 9.5% Boost To Retail Spending, Finds Bank Analysis." Carlton Reid, Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonr...

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Images
- SPAIN OECD RANK SPAIN AS THE NOISIEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, Creation Date: Jun 22, 1998 6:00 AM, Source APTV
- Thumbnail: Gran Via (pre-road diet), Getty Images

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Music:
CityNerd background: Caipirinha in Hawaii by Carmen María and Edu Espinal (YouTube music library)

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