How Highways Almost Destroyed Amsterdam - Plan Jokinen
Not Just Bikes2 HN recommenders · recommended in 2 months, 2022–2024
explainer · general · evergreen · 2022–2024 on HN
A short Not Just Bikes video on the 1960s plans (Plan Jokinen) to cut highways through Amsterdam to accommodate cars. It shows how radically different the city would look had they succeeded.
HN commenters cite it as a concise illustration of how the Netherlands narrowly avoided car-centric planning and then built its bike culture.
Up next
2 mo on HNThe 8pen
8pen
2 HN recommender · 2022–2025
1 mo on HNPython at Massive Scale - Stephen Simmons, Neil Slinger
PyData
1 HN recommend · 2018–2022
12 mo on HNHow Self-Driving Cars will Destroy Cities (and what to do about it)
Not Just Bikes
17 HN recommender · 2024–2026
11 mo on HNStroads are Ugly, Expensive, and Dangerous (and they're everywhere) [ST05]
Not Just Bikes
12 HN recommender · 2021–2025
10 mo on HNWhy This Channel Exists (and why I hate Houston)
Not Just Bikes
11 HN recommender · 2021–2025
10 mo on HNWhy American Cities Are Broke - The Growth Ponzi Scheme [ST03]
Not Just Bikes
14 HN recommender · 2021–2024
9 mo on HNThe Wrong Way to Set Speed Limits [ST06]
Not Just Bikes
9 HN recommender · 2021–2025
9 mo on HNCities Aren't Loud: Cars Are Loud
Not Just Bikes
10 HN recommender · 2021–2025
10 mo on HNWhy Canadians Can't Bike in the Winter (but Finnish people can)
Not Just Bikes
10 HN recommender · 2021–2026
9 mo on HNHow the Dutch got their cycle paths
BicycleDutch
9 HN recommender · 2013–2022
9 mo on HNWhy Japan Looks the Way it Does: Zoning
Life Where I'm From
8 HN recommender · 2021–2026
8 mo on HNThe Best Country in the World for Drivers
Not Just Bikes
9 HN recommender · 2021–2026
4 comments from Hacker News
Not Just Bikes made an interesting video on the thankfully-avoided plan to build a US-style highway system in Amsterdam: ▶ this video
I do all those things in Amsterdam. I can get everywhere in Amsterdam much quicker by bike than driving or public transport. Cycling in the rain and snow [2] is no problem, you just need the right gear. What non-Amsterdammers don't realise is the city never used to be a cyclist's paradise. In the 1960s, Amsterdam's car-obsessed urban planners had grand visions to drive motorways through the inner city, razing the historical buildings, and constructing Manhattan-like skyscraper clusters. Here's a 3 minute video "Highways Almost Destroyed Amsterdam" [1] about those plans, the fightback in the 1970s, and the resulting bike culture that Amsterdam has today. Enjoy! [1] ▶ this video [2] link
Amsterdam and Paris used to be both be very car dependent. Here is a video about Amsterdam before they shunned cars. ▶ this video
Indeed it wasn’t always this way. And this mindset plagued more countries. The Netherlands narrowly avoided it: ▶ this video