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The electorate in Basel has spoken out against the two urban climate initiatives of the Umverkehr association. The two proposals that wanted to transform street space into green spaces and more areas for slow transport, but also for trams and buses, were surprisingly clearly rejected.
The “Good Air Initiative” was rejected by 26,797 votes to 20,316, corresponding to a no majority of 56.9 percent. The ‘Future Initiative’ failed with 27,999 votes to 18,941, equivalent to a ‘no’ vote of almost 60 percent. Voter turnout in the elections was 45.5 percent.
The ‘Good Air Initiative’ called for 240,000 square meters of street space in the canton of Basel-Stadt to be converted into green zones within ten years. In the same period, the ‘Future Initiative’ wanted to transform an equally large area of street space, dominated by car traffic, into areas for pedestrians, cycling and public transport.
The common people have the upper hand
The SP, the Greens and the Left Party Basta spoke out in favor of the two initiatives. For them, the transformation of street space is an essential measure to combat global warming, which is harmful to health.
The bourgeois parties saw the progress as a frontal attack on car traffic and parking lots on the Allmend. They also warned of an avalanche of construction sites if so much street space had to be converted in ten years.
In June the Grand Council discussed various more or less far-reaching counter-proposals. Ultimately, the council could not agree with any of the proposals.
Initiatives in other cities too
Basel-Stadt was the first polling station for the two urban climate initiatives of the Umverkehr association. Similar initiatives have been launched in nine other cities, from Aarau to Bern, Geneva, Winterthur and Zurich, some of which have already been submitted. In St. Gallen the initiatives were withdrawn in favor of a counter-proposal.
In a statement, the initiators said they were disappointed with the clear result. It is said that Basel has missed the opportunity to make decisive progress in greening the city and implementing climate protection in the transport sector. Construction director Esther Keller (GLP), who promised to create more greenery on her own initiative, will now take her word for it.
Keller’s party, in turn, is happy with the rejection. However, it now wants to reintroduce the moderate counter-proposals from the Commission for the Environment, Transport and Energy, which were rejected in the Grand Council, as the GLP announced after the announcement of the voting results. (SDA)
Source:Blick
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