The Phnom Penh authorities should send study teams to industrialised countries like Belgium and Holland. Both these countries are generally flat like much of the Cambodian plains, making it ideal for commuting by traditional forms of transport like bicycles, especially, for local journeys.
Cycling has economic and environmental benefits - sparing fuel and maintenance costs of using motorised transport, reducing congestions and traffic accidents, curbing air pollution, and of course, a healthy daily exercise!
Even at the time of UNTAC in 1993 when few people could afford motorbikes and cars, cycling (as I did on a rusty Russian bicycle!) was generally not seen as a good or positive thing. This is to do with cultural attitude and social status Khmers attach to one who peddles to and fro. Cars, for example, like houses are owned/built to reflect personal social standing in society; so the larger the car and the bigger the house or villa, the greater the status.
Social attitudes of this kind will take time to change, but in the meantime, municipal authorities must create conditions and provide incentives for people to adapt to what will be in the majority's benefit.
Phnom Penh is expanding due to demographic changes, yet it is still relatively small compared to other countries' capital cities. Most of the pedestrians seen about the city are mostly foreigners. Walking and strolling, like cycling afford one opportunities to absorb and savour the scenery, whilst doing nothing to pollute the environment or contribute to accidents happening.
In other words, urban planning should be green driven and oriented. A green and clean city will also be a magnet for tourists and a healthy, vibrant harmonious place for all to live in.
Tram lines or links maybe better for Phnom Penh (the experts will decide!). Trams are generally more user-friendly, and green to operate. There should be separate cycling lanes along boulevards and sufficient pedestrian walkways. Many city dwellers since 1979 tend to push outward their residential boundaries until their walls and fences meet the kerb (curb) of the road or into areas once had been marked for pedestrians/pavements.
The incumbent Phnom Penh governor has been rightly credited with some fine effort to upgrade the landscape of the capital city. I like his choice of lampposts (a vast improvement on those concrete poles that sprung up all over the Kingdom during Mr Chea Sophara's era, who was otherwise, a popular reformer), monuments erected in honour of national figures such as Buddhist Patriarch Chhuon Nath, as well as the Lady who founded and gave her name to Phnom Penh. On the minus side, Phnom Penh under present Governor (Kep Chutema) also witnessed the Diamond Bridge tragedy, the controversial evictions of many poor residents without adequate, fair recompense or compensation.
Boeung Kak Lake could have been a perfect natural location for the capital's major recreation park, instead of being leveled up with sand for commercial development. Until recently the area had already been a hub for back-packers and eco-tourists who preferred a less conventional form of tourist experience whilst they are in transit in the capital. Indeed, their presence or 'villages' had provided locals with a healthy income to live on - something the state could not offer them.
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