Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Split in Croatia is a spectacular city in a wonderful setting but boy is it car dominated - parking all over footpaths and in every spare space. Need to get Enrique Penalosa in to sort it out! 150
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Rode some transit in Rome while there last week. All pretty easy and seamless. 040
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 09/09/2026The pantheon in Rome is such a gem of a building - one of my favourites. 041
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Although I’m not really a fan on the “war on” language, it resonates with me that the claims about demonising the car are ill founded. What most western cities have really done is designed out walking to accommodate the car. 130
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 02/09/2026Spot on. Walkability is not just, or even mainly, about distance. It’s also about how a walk feels - if it feels safe, comfortable and interesting, more will walk. 051
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 23/08/2026Sunday ride along the Brisbane River in our city’s spectacular winter. 031
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 21/08/2026“Small lot green field development is not the solution to the housing crisis; it just shifts costs to ratepayers while developers’ margins are protected”. Logan Mayor Jon Raven. mycitylogan.com.au/mayor-develo...mycitylogan.com.auMayor: Developers need to pay their way amid rapid growth - MyCity LoganLogan City Council says developers are failing to pay their fair share of infrastructure costs in new housing areas, warning that further expansion of small-lot estates on the city’s fringe risks shif... 120
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 21/08/2026It’s well proven that widening roads doesn’t solve congestion, but that still hasn’t shifted the dial on the common belief and political expediency of continuing to do so to pander to that belief. This graphic from Russell King is a handy simple explanation of the problem. 020
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Brisbane’s new RolanStreet station building is starting to shape up okay! 140
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Like most places, Qld road toll is increasing & vulnerable road users are more at risk. Queensland Walks, the walking advocacy body I chair, joined with the state motoring & kindred organisations to call for safer roads via campaign 107, the likely no. who’ll die on our roads from now till Christmas 130
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 16/08/2026Thanks to Russell King on LinkedIn for this insight. It’s not about what you think! 1135
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 15/08/2026Hobart’s MONA (Museum of Old & New Art) is a real knock out. Been there many times but today explored the new additions, most in areas carved out of the rock under the ground. 071
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 13/08/2026If you really want to rebalance transport in your city, build a proper bikeway network quickly. 032
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 13/08/2026Folks, it’s Queensland Walks Month. Let’s celebrate walking and its fundamental role in individual and community health and well being. Share your stories! The President of Qld Walks made a bit of a video with more about this. (Spoiler alert: the President is me!). youtu.be/GAtBrcf3zGsyoutu.beQueensland Walks Month is celebrated by Greg Vann our Queensland Walks Incorporated PresidentYouTube video by Queensland Walks Incorporated 041
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 11/08/2026Indeed. We are social animals and need to herd. Seeing each other in real life is a fundamental foundation to our well being. 020
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 11/08/2026I like this tagline from @urbantruth.bsky.social: “Mobility freedom comes from mobility choice”. When cars are in plague proportions in cities, this limits mobility choice and therefore mobility freedom. In other words too many cars limit our ability to move around easily. 140
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 10/08/2026Stage 3 of Gold Coast light rail from Broadbeach to Burleigh Heads opened yesterday to huge crowds. It will be a great success and makes a mockery of the ill judged decision not to build stage 4 to the Gold Coast airport. I predict that’ll happen eventually. 0100
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 08/08/2026We all know what our city could do better. But catching a trademark city cat to Howard Smith Wharves under the landmark Story Bridge on a winter evening, under clear blue skies and a temperature around 19C just reminds me that Brisbane is a GREAT city. 080
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 07/08/2026Some big things opening in public transport in Oceania: Gold Coast light rail stage 4, connecting Broadbeach & Burleigh opens this weekend Auckland’s City Rail link opens 13 September. I predict they’ll both be huge successes! 140
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 07/08/2026This is alarming for Australia, which has the highest ranked income required to be happy at $161k a year, and an average wage of $59k. No wonder there are so many agree folk here in the “lucky country”… www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-incom...visualcapitalist.comRanked: Where Wages Come Closest to the Price of HappinessIn this ranking Slovenia is the only country where wages exceed the “price of happiness”, the income level where happiness plateaus. 011
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 01/08/2026“Despite the widespread harm caused by cars & automobility, governments, corporations, & individuals continue to facilitate it by expanding roads, manufacturing larger vehicles, & subsidising parking, electric cars, & resource extraction… Currently, 1 in 34 deaths are caused by automobility. 173
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 28/07/2026I know Vancouver well and think making Granville Street car free would be a great idea! Brisbane did it in the 1980s and it has made its main street Queen Street into one of the worlds great pedestrian areas. 0467
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 24/07/2026Agreed. Queensland’s new laws about this are fundamentally flawed because this wasn’t appreciated. Power assisted bicycles (“pedelec”) aren’t the problem, they are part of the solution to urban mobility. Electric motorbikes are the problem and should require licensing of both machine & rider. 48217
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 24/07/2026Doing a tour of the Queensland outback with a couple of mates. Boy, a lot of the small outback towns have made a lot of effort on their main streets. They all seem to be thriving post covid with so many people touring around, camping grounds and hotels are all pretty full. 010
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 14/07/2026Who was the Local Hero in the movie of that name - Mac, Gordon, Happer, Ben Knox, Danny, Marina, Stella? 000
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 02/07/2026@greaterauckland.bsky.social @patrickreynolds.bsky.social making sure the shirt is seen around the country! 090
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 01/07/2026This is a special place for me. Where we had many family holidays and I now have holidays with my children and their children. And where my late wife’s ashes were spread 7 years ago this Sunday. Just a lovely part of the world called Moffat Beach. 020
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 30/06/2026“Since 2001, approximately 30 to 50 people have been killed in Germany as a result of Islamist terrorism. …. In contrast, an estimated 7,600 people died in Germany during the heatwave of summer 2003 alone” Yet huge amounts are spent on one & the other is still largely ignored. 0298
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 27/06/2026Rode my bike along the river today. Spectacular morning, well done Brisbane! 030
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 27/06/2026Brisbane’s new Cross River Rail station at Roma Street is becoming more visible! 140
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 24/06/2026Went to a meeting this arvo that was nothing to do with planning or cities, but the room had excellent wallpaper! 050
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 23/06/2026My @greaterauckland.bsky.social tee shirt arrived! I’m pleased to continue my support for this excellent community based organisation that has had a profound impact on the maturing of Auckland into a great city. Don’t believe me? Have a squiz at their website www.greaterauckland.org.nz/our-impact/ 1101
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 21/06/2026Mucking around with watercolours - all new to me, just finding my way… 040
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 18/06/2026These types of signs in Vancouver show just how car centric our language about roads has become. It’s not closed, it’s closed to vehicle traffic. It could just have easily read “road now open to people only” or something similar… Thanks to @urbantruth.bsky.social for the image 142
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 16/06/2026Power outage in my street today, scheduled to replace a power pole. So I walked my dog Peanut around the corner to our local village at Rosalie for breakfast and coffee at my local cafe. Walkability is real! 030
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 15/06/2026Wow, I’m amazed (in the traditional sense of the word rather than my coffee order being amazing 😉) how many Australians are in Vancouver for the World Cup! And a 2-0 win to top it off. 👏 040
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 10/06/2026The rise of huge SUVs is one of the most corrosive trends in transport of recent times. They create a vicious circle almost like an arms race. Russell King on LinkedIn nails this in this graphic and also identifies 4 key measure to turn this vicious circle into a virtuous one. 072
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 09/06/2026The biggest misconception: Low rates of walking, biking and transit don’t mean people prefer driving, it means cities have been designed for car use at the expense of safe, convenient and practical walking, biking & transit. Via Propel Bikes on FB 15114
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 08/06/2026Cities making progress on better suburbs don’t ask "how do we move more cars?" but "what is the good urban life, & how do we build toward it?” They pilot things at a meaningful scale & put place-makers in charge, not engineers. Via Russell King on LinkedIn integratedtransport.org.uk/downloads/De... 171
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 06/06/2026One of the simplest & wisest quotes about cities is Fred Kent’s: “If you plan cities for cars & traffic, you get cars & traffic. If you plan for people & places, you get people & places.” Enlightened cities around the world are doing this. Some still think cars & traffic are the answer. 0125
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 04/06/2026Really? Park the huge 4WD ute half on the footpath next to a 10m wide road pavement? 130
Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 02/06/2026Rightio cities that aspire to be leading edge, London is about to up its game even further: www.traffictechnologytoday.com/news/legal/m...traffictechnologytoday.comTfL plan sets out decade of street improvements for walking and wheeling | Traffic Technology TodayThe Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL) have launched the Walking and Wheeling Action Plan, setting out how the Mayor, TfL and London's 030