Rihjswijk's Carbon-Neutral Neighborhoods

We rounded out the first full week of classes with a bicycle trip to Rijswijk (pronounced Rice-Vike). As a class, we looked at different intersections and new housing developments.

After measuring widths of pedestrian sidewalks, bike lanes, tram lines/bus lanes, and car lanes to understand how streets accommodate all travelers, we stopped at a nearby park for a picnic.

Once everyone had finished eating and soaked up some sun, we rode around looking at newly built neighborhoods. The Netherlands has recently implemented a law requiring every built house to be carbon neutral starting in 2020. These neighborhoods had already accomplished this, in addition to having plenty of green space. They also utilize kid-friendly streets on which children playing have the same priority as cars driving them.