this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2024
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Solarpunk Urbanism

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A community to discuss solarpunk and other new and alternative urbanisms that seek to break away from our currently ecologically destructive urbanisms.

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Why do alt-history people never focus on infrastructure or innovation? What would have happened had bikes been invented centuries before cars instead of around the same time? How different would the built environment and our culture have looked?

Personally, I think centuries of more established bike use would have created an infrastructure that limits how well cars take off. Cities would have entrenched themselves in a cheap, dense manner of transit.

I could be wrong, lots of dense cities were wrecked by the car when it was commercialized. I'd love to hear any thoughts :)

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[–] poVoq@slrpnk.net 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

I guess on modern paved side-walks these Chinese wheelbarrows don't offer that much of an advantage, but I can easily see how great they would be on a typical well walked natural footpath.

[–] JacobCoffinWrites@slrpnk.net 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Definitely agreed it'd work well on footpaths. I think given what frost heaves and the city budget have done to local sidewalks, it might still be useful (I'm not sure they count as modern or well-paved). If I can find some more square tubing, and some mesh or perforated metal for the guard around the wheel, I think it could be a fun bit of welding practice. It's too bad the larger bike wheel sizes seem to be very expensive.

[–] poVoq@slrpnk.net 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Maybe look for a modern horse-cart wheel. There are some pretty lightweight ones that are very tall.

[–] JacobCoffinWrites@slrpnk.net 1 points 7 months ago

That's a good idea, I'll see what I can find!