Car abatement accelerates as lockdowns ease | Pollution as a vector for the virus | Brussels urbanism chief Pascal Smet on a big bang for mobility | Mark Watts of C40 Cities on the pace of change in Amsterdam and Paris | Pollution lobbies and their playbook
The benefit of reducing cars in cities has been a revelation amid the suffering and loss inflicted by Covid-19. Now some cities are putting plans to keep out polluting cars into hyperdrive. That goal once seemed like a galaxy far far away. But it's tantalisingly within reach for officials like Pascal Smet, the popular secretary of state for urban development in Brussels. Among the factors that still could hold back a great green urban recovery are pollution lobbies and the financial woes facing mass transit systems, says Mark Watts, who heads the influential C40 network of global megacities. We’re grateful to the European Cultural Foundation for supporting this episode. Visit the foundation’s Europe Day website for more to see, read and experience.