konknaijaboy | On 03, Feb 2014

Germany, home of the high-speed autobahn, is perhaps one of the few countries  that has had as intense a love affair with the automobile as the U.S. But in an  effort to go green, the country’s second-largest city is studying ways to  eliminate cars by 2034.

The northern city of Hamburg has laid out an initial concept, named the Green  Network Plan, that would expand public transportation and add more routes for  pedestrians and bicyclists. The most controversial aspect of the plan calls for  a steady phase-out of automobiles in the center of the city over the next two  decades.

And Hamburg might not be alone. The idea of banning, or at least reducing,  the use of automobiles in city centers has become an increasingly hot topic  among urban planners, especially in Europe and other industrialized countries  dealing with issues as diverse as congestion and smog.

According to a new study by IHS Automotive and Groupe Futuribles, congestion  will cause annual auto sales to be trimmed by 30 million vehicles annually by  2035.

“Other cities, including London, have green rings, but the green network will  be unique in covering an area from the outskirts to the city center,” Hamburg  city spokeswoman Angelika Fritsch told The Guardian newspaper. “In 15  to 20 years, you’ll be able to explore the city exclusively on bike and  foot.”

There are already a handful of car-free communities around the world, but  they’re typically small and often focused on tourists seeking a quaint throwback  in time. Examples include Michigan’s Mackinac Island or Sark island off the  English Channel coast of the U.K.; perhaps the largest is Venice, which simply  has no way to open up roads linking its network of small islands.

But a number of major cities, including the likes of Paris, London and even  New York, have been exploring ways to reduce the number of vehicles on their  streets, if not to ban vehicles outright.

London introduced a much-debated congestion charge for vehicles driving into  the center of the city in 2003. The program had a dual purpose–reducing  commuter traffic while also raising new funds to support the city’s expansive  mass transit system. The charge is 10 British pounds per day.

Several other cities have adopted a similar approach, though former New York  Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s bid to put one in place in crowded Manhattan was  blocked by state lawmakers. Nonetheless, changes have been made in several parts  of Manhattan, including a stretch near the theater district, to create  pedestrian zones to absorb the mass of tourists.

Many urban planners accuse automobiles of killing street life, with roadways  often dividing once-connected neighborhoods, and creating endemic air and noise  pollution. They also cite them as as being a major factor in pedestrian deaths  and injuries.

Lord Richard Rogers, a British architect and long-time advisor on urban  issues, suggested last year that London should become “a people space rather  than the car space it currently is.”

But the website CarFree.com cautions that simply banning automobiles won’t be  a quick fix. “The challenge is to remove cars and trucks from cities while at  the same time improving mobility and reducing its total costs,” it says.

Urban planners have an array of alternatives they can draw from as they try  to make cities at least less dependent upon automobiles. They include congestion  charges and more limited car-free zones, such as the popular Third Street  Promenade in Santa Monica, Calif. Several British communities are exploring the  creation of similar restricted spaces.

Other cities, such as Paris, have raised the idea of banning some, but not  all, automobiles. One approach would put a restriction on the use of vehicles  powered by internal combustion engines, while electric- or hydrogen-powered  automobiles would still have free rein. In some instances, such vehicles are  already exempt from urban congestion charges.

The auto industry sees restrictions as increasingly unavoidable and is trying  to adapt by, among other things, having more battery-car offerings. Some of the  latest plug-in hybrid models, such as the new Porsche Panamera Plug-In, allow  drivers to stick to gas power on highways coming into a city then switch solely  to electric propulsion to gain access and avoid toll charges.

While pressure to push cars out of urban centers has become most intensive in  older European and some American cities, urban planners in some emerging markets  are also beginning to consider the challenges posed by the automobile.

Beijing, Shanghai and some other Chinese cities, for example, have been  enacting rules to reduce the number of new vehicles that can be sold and  registered. And with some of those cities already reaching gridlock, it’s a  question of whether more radical solutions might follow.

How the public reacts remains to be seen. A number of efforts to create  pedestrian malls in the U.S. have failed, and motorists–and the businesses that  support them–make up a powerful lobbying force. The concept of carless cities  is likely to generate a loud global debate in the years ahead.

Source: Entrepreneur.com