"A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars.
It’s where the rich use public transport"I have heard this quote for so long, but I never knew the source of it. Recently, this came across and I was so curious to know the person who has said this because it turned upside down, my assumptions about a developed country. So I googled. Normally a developed country brings to our minds clean drinking water, great schools, reasonable jobs, lack of corruption, clean environment, fabulous infrastructure etc. But this single line takes us to a new horizon.
The genius mind behind this quote is Enrique Penalosa a former Mayor of Bogotá, Colombia. Though this is just single line there is so much of depth in it. It is not only about travelling or development he is talking there, but the benefit of sustainability. The rich use public transportation' means that physical infrastructure has to be so comfortable, efficient and accessible to all the sections of community that even the richest (who can easily afford luxury) are compelled to use it. Using less cars also indicate towards less fuel consumption, implying environment conscious citizens. Development is not about having tall buildings or extensive road networks. It has come to be defined as having zero energy buildings, and public transportation. Laying concrete on earth is not natural and not going to help environment.
Someday in the future, perhaps all the world’s countries will be “developed” and each human will own a classy car. Do we have enough fuel in this world to run the engines of all these cars? Do we have enough space to build all the highways, underpasses and roads? Consider for a moment, some of the world’s wealthiest cities — London, Paris, New York, Dubai, Singapore, Mumbai and their ways. The majority of the population travels through a massive public transport system of trains, metros, trams and buses. Owning a car maybe a point of pride but is often limited in its usage due to the difficulty car driving can be in choking traffic. It is of no surprise that the mass transportation systems of these mega cities are more than a matter of showing off the pride. They keep the cities efficient, fast and therefore growing.
Imagine how much time everybody saves when a 2 hour journey is cut down to 20 minutes.
Imagine how much space the city saves when 100 people fit into one coach instead of on 100 cars.
And imagine how much fuel that one coach saves compared to a 100 cars!
We all are runners of an endless race. No one knows what is the destination but we are all keep running. our goal is to have a sophisticated run as fast as possible. While running no one cares what is happening to others.The development also like the same, the technology is getting more and more advance everyday. Brand new concepts come to stores one after the other. We our the ultimate consumers with insatiable hearts to grasp whatever available out there. How we think is, bigger the quota ahead we are. But in the reality bigger the share bigger you lose.
So think wise, before using!!!
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