Will the Future City Be Car-Free?

Some cities around the globe are already going car-less, as urban planners design for people, not vehicles.

January 21, 2015

NEW YORK – After over a hundred years of living with cars, some cities are slowly starting to realize that the automobile doesn't make a lot of sense in the urban context. According to a Fast Company feature, it isn't just the smog or the traffic; in a city, cars aren't even a convenient way to get around.

A growing number of cities (particularly in Europe) are getting rid of cars in certain neighborhoods through fines, better design, new apps, and, in some cases, even paying commuters to leave their car at home and take the public transportation instead.

Fast Company lists seven cities around the world that leading the way toward car-free urban areas.

  • Madrid – Madrid has already banned most traffic from certain city streets, and has expanded the car-free zone to more than a square mile, in which non-neighborhood residents will be fined $100. In the next five years, 24 of the city's busiest streets will be redesigned for walking, not driving. Currently, the most polluting cars in the city have to pay have to pay more to park.
  • Paris – Last year, when smog levels spiked in Paris, the city briefly banned cars with even-numbered plates. Now, in the city center, people who don't live in local neighborhoods won't be able to drive in on weekends, and that rule could soon roll out to the whole week. By 2020, the mayor plans to ban diesel cars, and limit certain high-traffic streets to electric cars and other ultra-low-emission vehicles.
  • Chengdu – A new satellite city planned in Southwest China could serve as a model for a modern suburb: Instead of a layout that makes it necessary to drive, the streets are designed so any location can be reached by 15 minutes on foot. While the plans don't call for completely banning cars, only half of the road area will allow motorized vehicles.
  • Hamburg – Though Hamburg isn't planning to ban cars from its city center, the city is making it easier and easier not to drive, with plans for a new "green network" connecting parks across the city. The city is also covering up sections of the infamously crowded A7 autobahn with green spaces.
  • Helsinki – Helsinki expects a flood of new residents over the next few decades, but the more people come, the fewer cars will be allowed on city streets. In a new plan, the city lays out a design that will transform car-dependent suburbs into dense, walkable communities linked to the city center by fast-moving public transit. The city is also building new mobility-on-demand services to streamline life without a car.
  • Milan – The smoggy city of Milan is testing a new way to keep cars out of the city center: If commuters leave their vehicles at home, they'll get free public transit vouchers. An Internet-connected box on the dashboard keeps track of a car's location, so no one can cheat and drive to work.
  • Copenhagen – Forty years ago, traffic was as bad in Copenhagen as any other large city. Now, over half of the city's population bikes to work every day. The city introduced pedestrian zones in the 1960s in the city center, and car-free zones have slowly spread since then, resulting in one of the lowest rates of car ownership in Europe.
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