Why urban streets around the world are going car-free

Why it matters: For the time being, precautionary measures like car-free streets are meant to protect public safety by providing an alternative to overcrowded infrastructure or shuttered gyms. In the long run, pro-pedestrian and cyclist-friendly measures could outlast the pandemic.

But what of the road not taken? There was nothing inevitable about the way cars were adopted, first in America, and then by imitation in Europe and elsewhere. Are there other rules, and other ways of arranging urban spaces, that would have allowed cars to fit more smoothly into cities, rather than simply taking over the streets? Experiments in rece

... See more

There’s a famous—to urbanists—story about Amsterdam in the 1970s. Today, Amsterdam is the poster child, almost the byword, for a quiet, clean European city that makes lots of room for pedestrians and bike riders. When people talk about “Europe” in terms of land use, they often mean, or you imagine, Amsterdam.

To the extent that the average person kn... See more

We still have decades of auto-dependent land use trends to offset, but small shifts in the way our received infrastructure is designed can go a long way to making our neighborhoods more walkable — and in turn healthier, more affordable, and more vibrant.

The idea is to make urban areas less dependent on cars as part of the fight against climate change. The 15-minute city framework emphasizes bringing the essentials of daily life — work, entertainment, schools and green space — within a short walk or bicycle ride from home, reducing vehicle use and dramatically cutting carbon and pollution emissions... See more

Cities across the country are now thinking about different ways to make walking safer in cities and more attractive for routine daily trips. Vision Zero, a larger pedestrian safety plan with the goal of zero traffic fatalities, is underway. As pedestrian deaths are largely the result of being struck by an automobile, efforts to promote and enforce

... See more