When Oil Gets Expensive, Cities Get Better

The coming oil crisis is going to be painful, but the good news is that when oil gets expensive, cities get better.

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Highways Almost Destroyed Amsterdam - Plan Jokinen https://nebula.tv/videos/not-just-bikes-highways-almost-destroyed-amsterdam-plan-jokinen

References & Further Reading

2026 Iran war https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iran_war#Civilians

Strait of Hormuz disruptions: Growth and financial implications https://unctad.org/publication/strait-hormuz-disruptions-growth-and-financial-implications https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/osginf2026d2_en.pdf

Iran war is the greatest threat to global energy ‘in history’, warns IEA https://www.ft.com/content/09524a74-db3c-4aef-b4f7-51eda3068320

All the ships attacked in the Gulf since the US-Israeli war on Iran began https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iran-war-hormuz-ships-attacks-b2937024.html

What's Going on with Shipping? Hormuz Disruptions, US Navy Escort Plans (or lack of) and Impact on Global Trade | 10 March 2026 https://youtu.be/fOXgrG0Ea44

Trump to Other Counties on Strait of Hormuz: "Go to the Strait and just take it." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnt76qtODlY

The Iran war cripples Asia’s supplies of fertilizer and helium, threatening farms and chipmakers alike https://fortune.com/2026/03/23/iran-war-hormuz-closure-fertilizer-helium-asia/

Europe could face fuel shortage by April as Iran throttles supplies, says Shell boss https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/mar/25/europe-could-face-iran-war-fuel-rationing-by-april-warns-shell-boss

From the archives: How U.S. made it through winter of 1973 amid oil crisis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=admNvJlh5mU

REWIND: Revisiting the 1973 oil crisis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMb_hbt1NLw

Joop Den Uyl Addresses the Nation (Oil Crisis, 1973) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dXlMbC0fbo https://eloydegen.com/static/oliecrisis.html

Plan Jokinen https://archief.amsterdam/beeldbank/detail/bcb3163f-2ad1-0d0c-3ec1-b02b745973c0 https://archief.amsterdam/beeldbank/detail/7f2a06ab-50d9-40d0-f809-fc8f7202ea29 https://archief.amsterdam/beeldbank/detail/463d7520-969f-b1a0-7707-339ac00ac7d2 https://archief.amsterdam/beeldbank/detail/8d67f253-111e-1aae-7a13-c6bb6ff11eb3 https://archief.amsterdam/beeldbank/detail/2c12616f-9b94-58d1-ff89-67520025da0b

Bicycle use in twentieth century Western Europe http://velomondial.net/velomondiall2000/PDF/BRUHEZE.PDF

The Netherlands and the Oil Crisis https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/0001b029-23d7-4c9f-b129-de8206396367/340249.pdf

Met paarden door de Jordaan https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Met_paarden_door_de_Jordaan,_Bestanddeelnr_926-8028.jpg

Mobility protests in the Netherlands of the 1970s: Activism, innovation, and transitions https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210422421000769

The Baby Carriage Blockades https://medium.com/vision-zero-cities-journal/the-baby-carriage-blockades-9b33c64db34d

RESPONSE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CONSULTATIVE TASK FORCE ON THE CANADIAN URBAN TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRY (1979) https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2023/isde-ised/c21/C21-37-9-1-1979-eng.pdf

When Vancouver could have been like Edmonton and Calgary https://cariadheather.medium.com/when-vancouver-could-have-been-like-edmonton-and-calgary-1a6a0956f530

America, The Netherlands, and the Oil Crisis: 50 Years Later https://itdp.org/2019/04/26/america-the-netherlands-and-the-oil-crisis-50-years-later/

Historical Crude Oil Prices (Table) https://inflationdata.com/articles/inflation-adjusted-prices/historical-crude-oil-prices-table/

History of France's civil nuclear program https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_France%27s_civil_nuclear_program#Acceleration_of_the_nuclear_power_program_(Messmer_plan)

Jimmy Carter - Energy and the National Goals - A Crisis of Confidence https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jimmycartercrisisofconfidence.htm

Congress Won't Let Reagan Nominee Send Solar Bank Into Eclipse https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/03/02/congress-wont-let-reagan-nominee-send-solar-bank-into-eclipse/4542d9e3-b6d0-4d5a-89c8-e618d0bba770/ https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/542/756/2284565/

Scenes from S&P Global’s CERAWeek 26 | Jeff Currie, CSO of Energy Pathways, Carlyle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ2F1HJX4-o

Directed Technical Change as a Response to Natural Resource Scarcity https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/715849

Technology Connections You are being misled about renewable energy technology. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtQ9nt2ZeGM

Your dishwasher is better than you think (tips, tricks, and how they work) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHP942Livy0