Before Enrique Penalosa took over as Mayor of Bogota, Colombia, this thriving downtown plaza was a decrepit, crime-ridden, traffic-congested slum. Penalosa cleared out the old shacks, banned private motor vehicles, launched the Transmilenio bus service, created the plaza, and returned this public space to his city's people. Granted, the neighborhood pictured above clearly lacks the First World "vibrancy" that we boast of here in New York City, but it seems pleasant enough, no?