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Let's talk about schools and safer streets. 🏫 @xavimatilla.bsky.social, Barcelona's former chief architect, joined me on Urbanists on Bakfiets Talking Cities. We talked superblocks and urban transformation, but one story stood out. 🧵

1/10/26, 1:38 pm5 reposts20 likes

Lior Steinberg

@steinberg.nu

End of 2022: Barcelona announced 45 new speed cameras, 12 of them in front of schools. The next day, RACC, the drivers' association, criticised the plan. But in that same statement, they admitted the 12 cameras at schools were a good idea.

Lior Steinberg

@steinberg.nu

In front of a school, you can propose changes that would be much harder to explain anywhere else. So if we focus on schools and children's safety, could we improve the entire city? 🎥 Watch the full ride: youtu.be/t55zZITmQBU

youtu.beXavier Matilla: Building Superblocks | Urbanists on Bakfiets Talking CitiesYouTube video by Urbanists on Bakfiets Talking Cities

Simon Munk

@psimonk.bsky.social

For many transport authorities & politicians here (London/UK), approach seems to rapidly shift to 'how can we limit changes to *only* streets outside a few schools - we don't want anyone thinking we're proposing wholesale, city-wide changes'. Risk is School Streets only for easiest schools...

Simon Munk

@psimonk.bsky.social

The risk is also then that School Streets become 'easier to deliver, more palatable' than LTNs or Superblocks etc. for politicians. But of course, they're far less area-wide, intensive interventions - less traffic reduction, mode shift, childhood independence etc. than scarier, bigger schemes.