Archinect - News

How urban cities continue to veer toward new forms of mobility

2015-04-30T09:32:00-04:00

Gilles Vesco calls it the 'new mobility'. It’s a vision of cities in which residents no longer rely on their cars but on public transport, shared cars and bikes and, above all, on real-time data on their smartphones...'Multi-modal' and 'interconnectivity' are now the words on every urban planner’s lips...This model of denser, less car-dependent cities is becoming the accepted wisdom across the developed world.

Writer Stephen Moss talks to urban planners and transportation authorities around Europe to get a glimpse into how cities worldwide continue to wean themselves off car dependency and explore new forms of mobility, all while city density increases.

Stockholm's Vision Zero offers idealistic concept of car-free cities

2015-03-25T09:19:00-04:00

As the Vision Zero conversation widens, a new dimension is emerging to the approach. Increasingly, planners and advocates are talking about creating cities rich in human interaction, cities that provide a healthier environment that puts people above cars in a variety of ways...[At the same time,] Stockholm is already focusing on walkability, even if not under the Vision Zero rubric.

Driven Away: The Role of Urban Planning in a Car-Dependent Society

2013-07-26T17:46:00-04:00

“Ultimately people can’t get around conveniently because they are far away from everything.” And it is this observation that for me epitomizes the problem of the driverless car — it’s the worst kind of solutionism. By becoming so enamored with how technology might transform the car, we’ve neglected to adequately explore how getting rid of cars might transform how and where we live. We’d do well to heed Gorz’s exhortation to “never make transportation an issue by itself.”

It's a given that America continues to be a car-obsessed society despite the more painstaking reality of driving a car in many major cities of today. In The New York Times, editor Allison Arieff of SPUR points out that the U.S. is still fixated on selling, using and enhancing the car when commuters are carpooling more and buying fewer cars.

Furthermore, Arieff gets to the root of the problem by pointing out the negative impacts that a car-dependent culture has on public transportation and the even more complex issue of urban sprawl--both which are in need of more attention and innovation. As Arieff mentions in her article, cars aren't what make up the city--it's the city itself. Taking that into account, urban planners have a crucial role in making the Land of the Free less dependent on the car.

Do you agree with Arieff? What's your take on the issue? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments below.