The Hidden Danger of More Streets – Interview with the Organizer of SOS Hippodrome

Exclusive Interview

Tbilisi City Hall is pushing forward plans to construct an overpass over the Hippodrome to ease traffic between Saburtalo and Vake, as congestion is now a daily occurrence. However, these plans are encountering a strong opposition in the form of Joseph Alexander Smith, a freelance journalist, politician, and activist in Tbilisi. On the weekend, a massive protest organized by his initiative ‘SOS Hippodrome’ raised awareness and drew attention from media outlets across Georgia. We sat down with him to find out more.

Tell us what issues you see in the potential Hippodrome overpass

Our principal objection to the construction of a traffic overpass near the Hippodrome Park is that it is not backed by any professional research. The city government is spending 2.7 million GEL on a significant transport infrastructure project, without any detailed scientific research into existing and projected traffic flows, how these traffic flows might change as a result of this project in the long-term, the effect on nearby residents who live within a few meters of the planned overpass, the effect on an important recreational zone, which it is also only meters away from, and the effect on the environment, particularly air pollution).

It’s pretty standard in most cities in Europe to conduct this kind of research before going ahead with such large investments in infrastructure, since the municipality needs to be sure that its interventions will improve the situation, not worsen it. Also, given the fact that both residential buildings and a recreational area lie within 10-15 meters of this planned overpass, a cost-benefit analysis should have been carried out to determine whether similar improvements to traffic flow could be achieved with other, less invasive measures. As it stands, the Tbilisi City Hall has totally ignored the rights of both local residents and park users (with whom no consultation was ever held about this project) and as such has spent nearly 3 million GEL on a project that it can’t be sure will achieve its stated objective.

How big is your campaign?

There are about three or four people actively involved in managing our Facebook page, writing posts and doing other organizational tasks. We have very close to 1000 likes on FB and our online petition expressing concern at this project had 2235 signatures at the time we handed it to the City Hall at the beginning of April, and one of our campaign slogans since then is ‘We Are 2235’. Although we might be few in terms of active organizers, we have gained a lot of interest, especially recently as more local residents have come to us with their concerns.

You published a simulation on your Facebook page showing the issues with the overpass. What does it show us exactly?

We published the simulation in response to the beautiful fairytale scenario presented to us by City Hall in the first few days after construction began. Their video showed cars zipping over the overpass unimpeded, with the message that the overpass will ease traffic.

Our simulation, by contrast, was based on real data on traffic flows gathered in the city and represents a much more realistic vision of what the roads will look like after the overpass is built. It shows that although traffic will move freely over the overpass itself, traffic may well back on Kartozia Street heading south, as increased car speeds on Cholokashvili mean fewer drivers will yield to traffic from Kartozia Street. The simulation also shows that the increased amount and speed of traffic crossing the overpass in the direction of Tamarashvili Street will lead to immediate major back-ups at the traffic lights at the Tamarashvili-Cholokashvili junction.

This is just one possible outcome and doesn't show the results of an overall rise in the number of cars in the city. In and of itself, the construction of more or wider roads attracts increased traffic to those locations - a process known as 'induced demand' - but in the longer term, road travel becomes seen as the more efficient option and more people move from public transport to private car, and so the long-term effects of this overpass could eventually be much, much worse.

Who is funding your campaign?

We are literally funding it ourselves, using whatever change we have in our pockets. We do all the work on FB, organizational tasks and preparation for protests, without remuneration, and we buy the materials ourselves. We have spent a tiny amount on Facebook promotion, but that’s it. Everyone chips in, offering his or her own time and skills. For example, our next video clip will be made by a volunteer whom I put a call out for on FB. In SOS Hippodrome, between us we have a lot of experience in running a campaign on a budget and we’re quite good at it. That’s not to say campaign donations wouldn’t be welcome! Contact us if you wish to help financially!

How did you start the campaign? Did citizens come to you or was it your own initiative?

We started work on this back in late January this year when some of our friends who work on transport issues came back from a meeting at City Hall where it was announced that this project was back on the cards. We never thought a project dating back to 2015, which had already been rejected by Davit Narmania in 2017, would ever resurface during Kaladze’s period in office. We thought things were supposed to get better! Given the potential impact on the Hippodrome and local residents, we immediately realized we had to fight this project and got to work straight away. I had some meetings with local people, but their opinion was divided and at that stage construction work hadn’t started. It was difficult showing people technical drawings of the project and trying to explain to them our objections – many locals thought it was actually a fantastic idea.

Do you think the locals are unaware of the impact of the overpass?

The idea that creating more road space for cars leads to a reduction in congestion is very logical, but actually, the opposite is true. Large cities around the world are waking up to the reality that creating more road space for cars, in the form of wider roads or overpasses, actually attracts more cars to that place, as drivers associate that area with less congestion and start to factor it into their daily routes, and more people decide to take to the roads by car since it seems like the most efficient option. Although a traffic overpass might ease congestion for a few years or so, eventually, the traffic catches up with you and you get exactly the same congestion you had before, only more of it.

Countless cities around the world are actually now dismantling overpasses they built ten or more years ago and allowing private cars less space while investing more in public transport, walkability, and cycling. Most large cities have problems with air pollution as a result of their car-centric transport systems and they’re beginning now to get round to tackling this very serious problem.

While awareness of this global consensus against overpasses in cities might be low on the street in Tbilisi, these facts are common knowledge in the corridors of City Hall, where there are many well-educated and competent people working behind the scenes. This makes it difficult for us to understand why City Hall, and the Mayor personally, seems so convinced that this overpass is going to do the job.

With regard to the residential area, don't you think that a questionnaire with the people could shed more light on the matter?

We always wanted to involve local residents but knew we had to work on our communication with them and our presentation of the facts, given the above. Once construction started and we held our first protest, a group of local residents from one building wrote to our campaign page and we met with them that very day. Our next protest action, which was held in the Hippodrome Park on April 28, was focused entirely on them and their problems. They were the only ones making speeches, and they coordinated activities for young people, including ‘draw your Hippodrome’, free introductory yoga lessons, a Frisbee competition and more. The message is that the Hippodrome is ours – in the first place it belongs to the local residents who have used it and cared for it for so many years, and also in another sense it’s ours: it belongs to the whole city.

Are you working with the Mayor's office?

No. We’d love to, and we’ve been asking for a meeting since the beginning of March to no effect. The official response I got is that there is a queue for meetings and that the petition text is ‘under consideration’. I think that in reality they have no counterargument to our central objection – that the project isn’t backed up by research – and so they want to save face by dismissing us as a load of tree-huggers and forge ahead with the project, hoping nobody remembers this when it all goes pear-shaped in a few years’ time.

The Mayor wants to curb traffic in Tbilisi, what do you think he needs to do to achieve this?

I’m not an expert in transport issues, so I would hesitate to offer more than a personal opinion, but I believe he needs to do what every other city has had to do – take privileges away from private cars in terms of road-space, parking and speed allowances and make massive investments in public transport in order to create a balanced integrated system that is comfortable, comprehensive and affordable. Tbilisi has a metro system, but given the costs of extending it, money would be better spent on other systems which are integrated with metro lines (ie, don’t run over the same routes and have lots of interconnecting points). This will involve some serious infrastructural investments, like a tram system, passenger train lines or a bus rapid transit system, but Tbilisi is now at a critical point in terms of both mobility and air pollution and something has to be done. Creative financing with international donor help is a good option for a city like Tbilisi.

Does the overpass affect nature?

In terms of biodiversity, not much – there is no river eco-system or particularly rare species found nearby. About 85 trees will need to be cut down for this project. City Hall has claimed it will plant 140 trees to compensate for this, and their promotional clip shows the trees springing up like mushrooms, although there’s no explanation or guarantee that they will plant trees of the same age and size.

The Hippodrome is a big recreational area for Tbilisi. Some people argue it should be improved to attract more people for recreational purposes. Do you agree?

It depends what you mean by ‘improved’. I believe that in a democratic city, there absolutely MUST be public spaces which are open to all, free to use and easily accessible. Given that there are no other ‘wild’ and relatively untouched public recreational spaces in the center of Tbilisi, I would resist any measures that try to turn the Hippodrome into some sort of attraction – the freedom that one feels being in nature (real nature, not a list of tree-species drawn up in a City Hall office) is one of the best assets of the Hippodrome park and while I think it could be improved in some aspects, I would hate to see it become a ‘park’ like so many others, with security-guards, electric lighting and flowerbeds. It should be an open, wild space where every citizen, from a homeless person to a bank manager can do whatever they want, play sport, sleep, read. A more-or-less self-managing park also attracts different animal species, which is important for urban biodiversity. Cities are waking up to the important of urban biodiversity in creating urban spaces that are resilient to various environmental threats.

Is this your political campaign in Tbilisi?

No, I’m not campaigning for any election right now and I’m not a member of any party. I hate when political parties usurp citizen initiatives – I’ve seen them do this all over the city and then they very quickly drop them once the TV cameras stop turning up. I want SOS Hippodrome to be a platform where the voices of local residents and ordinary citizens can be heard, especially those who have never been involved in civil activism before. SOS Hippodrome is not for me, but I will use my experience as a campaigner and all my contacts to help it achieve its objectives, because I deeply believe in it.

What do you hope will be the outcome of your SOS Hippodrome campaign?

I hope that the Mayor will accept the mistake and stop the project. If he doesn’t, it’ll only be worse for him in the long term. We will continue to gather data on levels of noise and air pollution around the overpass, as well as monitor traffic flows around the area to prove that this project has been a waste of money. If we can make that case, the Mayor will have to take political responsibility for this bad decision, it’s inevitable. If they build it, we won’t stop fighting it until it’s torn down.

In the long term, we’ll be able to avoid bad urban planning decisions in future, and future city governments will need to be much more responsive to citizen demands. Also, I hope that the sense of community and warmth generated by this campaign will develop into the basis for a sort of Hippodrome Friends Association – a group of local residents who will be informed and organized to fight off future threats to the Hippodrome and also work with City Hall to produce a vision for the Hippodrome’s future based on the principles of democracy and sustainability.

By Benjamin Music