Bangladesh Rocks World Carfree Day 2024

Despite the soaring temperatures, Bangladeshis came out and jubilantly celebrated World Carfree Day 2024, with the theme of Make an Affordable Dhaka for All. The celebration was organized by the Institute of Wellbeing, Bangladesh (IWB) and Work for a Better Bangladesh (WBB), with many other organizations joining in the celebration of Carfree Cities are Affordable Cities.

With our great passion for carfree cities, one day is not enough, so IWB and WBB spread out their events from 10-22 September.

A successful event requires extensive planning. More than thirty organizations joined in a preparation meeting to coordinate and plan activities.

In order to make our opinions heard, IWB and WBB organized two online talk shows. The first was in Bengali, involving urban planners and activists. The second talk show was in English. We were particularly proud to have four interns from the first CCA Cooler Cities Internship program, two each from Nepal and India, as speakers in the second, international talk show.

The popular daily paper New Age published an article about the ridiculously high cost of cars, written by our co-founder and CCA core team member, Debra Efroymson, on the 22nd of September: https://www.newagebd.net/post/opinion/245824/outrageous-cost-of-car-oriented-cities#google_vignette

At last the long wait was almost over. The entire IWB team and more than twenty volunteers (including graduates of IWB’s popular carfree cities residential training program, Camp Cool) worked together to decorate the venue for the main event, at Mohammadia Housing Society in Dhaka. IWB regularly organizes carfree events in that housing society, but this time the event was held on a new road within the locale.

On the day itself, a number of colorful and fun activities attracted 400 participants, including many women and children. There was a quiz competition for children that explained the relation between climate change and carfree cities. There were traditional Bangladeshi games. There were board games. To ensure the participation of small children, there was some play equipment set up, while older children had the chance to paint an image of their world without cars. Prizes were in the form of environmentally friendly metal water bottles.

And that’s not all! A new partner organization joined: after several meetings, the Mohammadia Housing Society Youth Club agreed to work with IWB. The Youth Club helped organize the World Carfree Day event, and they also agreed to organize carfree streets once a week in their housing society. In order to encourage them, IWB provided them with a set of playing equipment in the concluding ceremony of World Carfree Day.

Our hope and belief are that more people have gained understanding of the relationship between cars and the climate crisis, and the importance of carfree cities to make life more affordable. And people got to see how wonderful our cities could be if we removed the cars and prioritized people, health, and happiness instead!

Rifat Pasha, Policy Officer, Institute of Wellbeing, Bangladesh

We Opened the Streets of Patan to People! WCD in Nepal 2024

On World Car Free Day 2024, Digo Bikas Institute, with support from Ward 16, Lalitpur Metropolitan City Office, Nepal Cycle Society, Let's Play Group, and Baakhan Nyane Waa, organized "पाटन पाइलै पाइलामा"—Phase 1 of Vehicle-Free Streets (VFS) on Saturday, 21st September, from 2 PM to 6 PM. The streets of Patan came alive with fun games, art and coloring activity, food stalls, a storytelling session where a resident of Patan narrated the story of Yala Yenyaa (Patan’s Indrajatra festival), connecting the community to its rich cultural heritage, and music, creating a vibrant and inclusive space for the community to enjoy.

Prior to this, we held learning and sharing session where members of the 'Jiwanta Hadigaun Team' were invited to share their experiences from Hadigaun Carfree Saturdays with the community of Patan. This exchange of ideas and insights provided valuable lessons on how vehicle-free initiatives can be sustained and expanded, furthering our vision for more livable, people-centered streets.

Together, we are reclaiming our streets and walking towards a more sustainable future. Let’s continue this journey towards creating vibrant, car-free public spaces!

Niharika Mathema, Placemaking principal, Digobikas and Carfree Cities Alliance