Realising car-free developments within compact cities

Abstract

Car-free development has been discussed in different parts of the world as a sustainable mobility strategy. Nonetheless, real efforts are limited temporally, such as on annual 'car-free days', and spatially, such as to car-free housing in the suburbs of small-to medium-scale European cities or car-free zones within the central business districts of large cities. The experience of Discovery Bay, Hong Kong, is analysed in this paper to demonstrate that car-free development can and has happened in compact cosmopolitan cities like Hong Kong since the 1980s. The population living in this car-free development reached more than 12 000 in 2014. A virtuous cycle of car-free development, building upon people's underlying environmental and social values, can be sustained by coordinated transport and land use planning to satisfy the diverse needs and through local participation. Nonetheless, many challenges of car encroachment still lie ahead.

The Neighborhood Effect on Keeping Non-Commuting Journeys within Compact and Sprawled Districts

“…However, this pattern was not observed in sprawled neighborhoods in Lahore and Rawalpindi. These findings confirm the results of several studies in developed countries, which demonstrated a positive relationship between active mobility and living in compact districts [15,[47][48][49][50].…”

Integrated mobility concepts in residential areas: challenges and opportunities of measures for sustainable urban mobility

“…Although IMCs appear to have many positive impacts, few studies analyse their effects on resulting transport, and no study has explored their effects on land consumption. Researchers have investigated IMCs implemented in car-free and low-car neighbourhoods either by examining overviews of several case studies at once (Baehler, 2019;Foletta and Henderson, 2016;Kushner, 2005;Melia, 2014;Scheurer, 2001;Nieuwenhuijsen et al, 2019) or by performing a more detailed analysis of single examples (Borges and Goldner, 2015;Loo, 2017;Ornetzeder et al, 2008;Nobis, 2003;Foletta and Field, 2011;Moser and Stocker, 2008). The results suggest that IMCs have positive effects on mode shares of public and active transport and decrease car ownership levels.…”

Simulating a motor-free area in Pune, India using A/B Street

“…Street is a gamified traffic simulation program that enables users to explore how changing road geometry affects modes of travel such as cyclists, public transport, pedestrians, and drivers(Carlino et al, 2022). AsLovelace (2021) states in their paper that compares many such opensource tools, they are steadily evolving, and further research is necessary to understand their full potential and appropriate use cases along with their limitations.2.6 Car free ideas: from intervention to outcomesIn a paper byLoo (2018), they talk about the different implementations of a car-free concept. A car-free development can range from banning cars altogether or restrict the use of certain types of cars in designated areas.…”