The Bush Administration is committed to ousting the government of Belarus and replacing it with Western-style capitalism. NBC News recently branded the recalcitrant Eastern European nation as “an outlaw state far worse than Siberia in the old days”. But if you visit Minsk and talk to the people who live there, you get a different story.

To be sure, Belarus retains some unsavory elements of its Soviet past. The Belarusian state security agency is still called the KGB, and Belarus, like Russia, still maintains tight control of TV and newspapers. President Lukashenko can stay in office indefinitely, and he does not tolerate street demonstrations of political opposition.

But much has changed since the country gained independence in 1991, and, despite what we hear from NBC, the change has generally been positive. Internet access is widespread and unfiltered, fostering diverse subcultures. Web sites of global news sources and local opposition groups are open to all. State-owned housing was privatized, and the home ownership rate in Belarus is now higher than in the US.

Another positive change is the emergence of a vibrant bicycle culture. Like other Northern European cities, Minsk is building bike paths on a grand scale. Uniformed police patrol on bicycles, and the police cooperate in organizing Critical Mass rides. Contrast this with Russia, where cycling is marginalized and bike infrastructure non-existent.

The Soviet Union had the lowest car ownership rate in the industrialized world, and Belarus avoided the rush to motorization that has devastated Moscow and other Russian cities. Despite high population densities, traffic in Minsk is light and public transport is efficient and cheap. Per capita automobile ownership in Belarus is estimated at 109 cars per thousand people, seven times lower than in the US.

The pivotal element for sustainable development is land use planning. Suburban sprawl, subdivisions and two car garages depend on a ready supply of private land, which the United States has always had. In the USSR the opposite was true – practically all the land was owned by the state.

Belarus codified public land ownership in its own Constitution, which guarantees that all forest and farm land must be publicly owned. This has resulted in nearly ideal development patterns, with relatively dense settlements surrounded by abundant open green space. Forty percent of the country is forested, putting unspoiled public parkland within easy reach of all citizens.

Enhanced satellite imagery graphically demonstrates the difference between Belarusian and American land use. In these images of the capital metropolitan areas, privatized green space (front yards, back yards, golf courses) is shown in red. The population (2.5 million) and the land area are about the same for both capital areas, but the disparity in land use is striking.

In Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet states, land has already been privatized. Suburban subdivisions are now popping up all over the Moscow metropolitan region and automobile sales are booming. Mayor-for-life Yuri Luzhkov has done all that he can to encourage car use in Moscow, building a maze of new highways, providing free parking on public land throughout the city, and even offering one year of free gasoline to anyone who buys a new small car.

The result: Moscow is paralyzed by traffic jams, courtyards and sidewalks are converted into parking lots, and the city is choking on air pollution (90% of which is from motor vehicles). Residents of Minsk dread the prospect that their city may face the same fate.

Global warming and high fuel costs are forcing a reappraisal of the development schemes used in the West. The combina­tion of smart land use and low car ownership makes Belarus a model for sustainable development. Its political system can be gradually transformed to bring it into line with Western norms, but suburban sprawl and automobile dependence, once established, are largely irreversible.

References [translations by Google Translate]

1. Freedom to Roam in Belarus [wikipedia.org]

2. Ranking of Countries by Cars per Capita [rbc.ru]

3. Minsk Critical Mass [cm-minsk.org]

4. Minsk Police Patrol on Bicycles [expressnews.by]

5. Belarus Home Ownership Rate at 73.4% (United Nations Development Program Report, Table 17, p. 67) [undp.org]

6. 40.2% of Belarus Land Area Covered by Forest (United Nations Development Program Report, Table 15, p. 66) [undp.org]

7. Real Estate Listings of Farmland in Moscow Area being sold for suburban subdivision [lhr.ru]

8. Don't Breathe Deeply: Air Pollution in Moscow (90% from Motor Vehicles) [rbcdaily.ru]

9. Luzhkov Offers $1000 of Free Gasoline to New Car Buyers [avtomarket.ru]

10. Moscow Traffic Jams Are Getting Worse [themoscowtimes.com]

11. Moscow Traffic Photos during one typical day [englishrussia.com]

12. High Resolution (3000x3000 pixel / 3Mb) Enhanced Satellite Image of Washington DC Area [ecotransport.info]

13. High Resolution (3000x3000 pixel / 3Mb) Enhanced Satellite Image of Minsk Area [ecotransport.info]