28: Micromobility and Disaster Resilient Cities — the Christchurch, NZ case study

In this episode, Horace and Oliver discuss Horace's visit to Christchurch, New Zealand for the ITSNZ T-Tech 19 conference. For those that don't know, Christchurch suffered a massive earthquake in 2011, levelling most of downtown and killing 181 people. The city has been rebuilt with great cycle/micromobility infrastructure, which has led to Lime Scooters and cycling as a modal being incredibly popular in the city. In this episode, we unpack: - why the concentration of political power in cities makes them more likely to be able to quickly adapt to micromobility changes - how the earthquake parallels the expected increase in volatility in environment we're likely to see from climate change, and how this benefits micromobility. - how sunk costs in infrastructure can and will hinder the adoption of micromobility, and why this is a mistake. - How the conformability of small vehicles allows them to permeate further into the city substrate in a way that larger vehicles cannot - How transport changes how we relate to cities, and the possibilities that we see with them. - How asset-light models suit an experience driven culture, and how this is a reflection of new forms of status. Be sure to check out micromobility.io for all the latest, sign up to our newsletter, and get tickets for Micromobility Europe which is happening on October 1st. Please also rate the show - it helps us get recommended to others. Cheers and let us know what you think on Twitter - @oliverbruce and @asymco