On 12/05/2013 15:21, Recliner wrote:
Mizter T wrote:
On 09/05/2013 13:10, Recliner wrote:
Following the Pyongyang Metro pictures I posted, here's some I took
above ground, with a particular concentration on the over-crowded
public transport system.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/recline...7633439541991/

Pyongyang is North Korea's showpiece city, so many of the buildings
are rather smart, and the roads are wide and often tree-lined. The
roads are also quite well maintained; the standard drops the moment
you get past the police checkpoints on the city limits.

Citizens are not allowed to own cars, and cycles were also banned
until recently, so many commuters have to walk if they can't squeeze
on to the packed, battered old trams, trolley buses and diesel buses.
There are a small number of smart, modern (mainly Chinese) cars, but
you probably have to be someone fairly important to be able to travel
in one. Mobile phones are now available, but you don't yet see many
people walking along, deep in conversation. You also see very few
overweight people; most have a vigorous style of power walking.


V interesting stuff.

Do you know what the logic was in banning bicycles (until recently) in
Pyongyang? The regime fearful of the city masses having independent mobility perhaps.

I can only speculate about the cycle ban in Pyongyang, as there doesn't
seem to be any official information. It didn't apply outside the capital,
so I don't think it was about restricting mobility (which the regime does
using other means, in any case -- there are regular police road blocks on
the highways, checking that people are not moving outside their permitted
areas, and all non-residents need permission to visit Pyongyang).

I think the leaders probably wanted to avoid the third world look of
millions of shabby bikes cluttering up the elegant boulevards, as the
leaders must have observed on their regular visits in Beijing. There may
also have been an element of, "we've provided you with a Metro and plenty
of cheap buses/trams, so USE them". Also, there would have been a demand
for cycle racks both at work places and in the cramped, high rise apartment
blocks, which probably don't have room for bikes, and may not have lifts.
Finally, Pyongyang is fairly compact, so most people probably live close
enough to walk to work if necessary (particularly if they're allocated
apartments close to where they work). Separately, women were banned from
cycling throughout the country for many years, as the leader didn't like
the look of women on bikes.


Would you say that Pyongyang is generally a rather small town?