A corner of TikTok is having a field day over a video bemoaning low-effort city planning, making life dangerous for pedestrians.
The online community, especially through hashtags like #cityplanning, has been paving new avenues of communication for unsatisfied urbanites, especially in the United States.
The lacking walkability in cities, danger to pedestrians, environmental cost of American infrastructure, and envy of people around the developed world who live in contrasting environments has inspired raucous discussions over planning policy.
@jonjon.mp4 Paint ain't infrastructure. Other video you might like: 1. Shared Streets @The Happy Urbanist 2. Other daylighting ideas @The Happy Urbanist 3. Sacrificial infrastructure @The Happy Urbanist #urbanism #chattanooga #tennessee #carculture #pedestriandignity #pedestriansafety #urbandesign #cityplanning ♬ original sound - The Happy Urbanist
The TikToker's video has been getting attention because of the important points it makes about corner-cutting in an American city.
He points out a car-sized space that is restricted for street parking because of the way it limits pedestrian and driver visibility and astutely points out that the paint won't stop anyone from using the space.
"Paint ain't infrastructure," the poster lamented in the video caption.
He notes that the location where the no-parking space was laid out is heavily trafficked by pedestrians as it sits between two churches and in the middle of a college campus.
Finally, he concludes his informative post by giving examples of infrastructure in other countries, where physical barriers block out spaces that are dangerous to park in. He even shows one image that uses such a space as bike storage, simultaneously making the area more friendly to sustainable transportation and increasing pedestrian safety.
This post shows that the manner in which our environments are designed and how it impacts the habits of people in those areas is one of the biggest drivers of the climate crisis.
As demonstrated in the video, certain types of infrastructure (or the lack thereof) favor cars over people and influence people to drive more often, even if they only have to travel a short distance. People driving more often than not is a massively important climate issue because, according to the Cato Institute, personal vehicles account for 29% of American carbon pollution.
There are dozens of ways in which city planning could be improved to help fight the climate crisis, from increasing access to sustainable transportation like biking to designing cities in a way that effectively utilizes green energy. Making cities safer for pedestrians is an important front in the fight against climate chaos.
Those who interacted with the post had a lot to say.
One sarcastic commenter wrote, "I park on paint weekly, it's never fought back."
Another said, "I'm so tired of pedestrian-hostile areas."
But perhaps the most passionate person has their finger on the pulse. Their exclamation (originally written in all caps) is simple but powerful: "Paint is not infrastructure say it louder."
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