Enforcing Jaywalking With Mimes?

Bogotá, Colombia changed public opinion about jaywalking by putting mimes on the street to mock people who crossed illegally. Paul Romer of Stanford looks at other interventions that changed public opinion when laws couldn't.

1 minute read

July 26, 2010, 12:00 PM PDT

By Tim Halbur

Urination in the streets of Paris is a problem that Romer says has yet to be solved, but they might take a hint from Bogota or New Delhi:

"New Delhi, a city where public spitting and urination present similar problems, is having better luck preventing such behavior on its new subway system. A recent New York Times story on New Delhi's metro offers a nice illustration of how to establish new rules, particularly informal ones, enforced by norms."

Romer also cites New York's public announcements about new rules against squeegeeing cars without permission (a panhandling strategy) as another method that worked.

FULL STORY: Zip It

Sunday, July 25, 2010 in City Journal

Social / Demographics World Paul Romer Environmental Behavior

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