Do you still think of cars when you hear the word “highway”? In Valencia, Spain’s third largest city, cyclists and pedestrians enjoy a 100-hectare garden in the middle of the city with two cycle paths on each side of the park – a green highway! Turia Gardens have an exciting history. They were created at the end of the twentieth century after a catastrophic flooding of the Turia River. Instead of building a highway, the city decided to create a park with beautiful architecture and green spaces. The length of Turia Gardens is perfect for runners, because of its paved areas as well as areas of solid ground. These paths are surrounded by gardens, fountains and pine forests. 5,731 meters are covered with a special surface to soften the impacts caused by the running. When you’re not wandering around the park, Valencia’s well-developed public transport system ensures that residents and tourists can move efficiently around the city.

The initiative “Auto freie Kieze” (car-free hoods) has been campaigned for since 2017, aiming to achieve a more liveable neighbourhood in which space is returned to the people. Nearby construction works, which would lead to a higher traffic load in the Wrangelkiez (a hood in Berlin), have pushed to finally turn this initiative into a reality. Some residents’ fears of rising rents and congestion on side streets are understandable. Embedding the project in a comprehensive transportation plan could help avoid negative impacts. Depending on their success, car-free measures could remain after construction works are finalized. We are looking forward to learn from this lighthouse project in Kreuzberg during the coming months. Are there any other places you would like to see car-free?

Let’s fill the streets with life! This is not just an empty statement, but the name of an urban vision in Barcelona known as Superblocks, which was launched in 2016 and has influenced many cities worldwide. The concept was born out of the need to improve people’s quality of life and reduce the impact of traffic on the environment. Nine city blocks in Barcelona have been transformed into livable neighbourhoods where traffic is diverted around the block to free up space for safer walking, cycling and general enjoyment of streets. In 2020, Barcelona announced an expansion of their initiative in the Eixample neighbourhood, as part of a 10-year plan. 21 streets will be converted into green spaces and plazas. This will promote biodiversity, active mobility and encourage exchange between residents. The result? 33.4 additional hectares devoted to pedestrians in the city, which is equivalent of 46 soccer fields. The visionary project is scheduled to begin in 2022. The city government is now working on public engagement processes that involve residents to find out what they want the green spaces to look like. This is how streets should be filled with life!

Imagine that you could shape your street according to your own needs… Sounds too good to be true? Sweden makes it possible and – most importantly – simple! Sweden’s vision of a hyperlocal city is based on the goal of connecting communities, prioritizing walking and cycling over driving, and transforming local streets into green and sustainable public spaces. Swedish architecture firm ArkDes Think Tank in cooperation with other designers has developed sets of wooden street furniture called “Street Moves” that are tailored to the size of the on-street parking spaces. The sets resemble Lego-blocks and can be equipped with plants, bike or scooter racks, children’s play areas or e-charging stations. During the testing process in the summer of 2020, residents were able to actively transform their neighborhood. As a result, street mobility increased by 400%. Residents are happy with the changes, even though parking spaces were removed.

22th September is world Car Free Day. Berlin wants to set up 25 temporary play streets & there will be special offers in public transport. People all around the world are encouraged to avoid using cars on this day. Berlin has temporary play streets and public transport offers – Surely someone can beat that? Car Free Days… …are a great opportunity to create attention an change mobility behaviour …have no real impact on environment and mobility behaviour

Temperatures are rising worldwide and many cities are suffering from the increasing heat stress. Ahmedabad already responded back in 2013 by developing a Heat Action Plan. A peer-reviewed study has shown that since then around 1,190 deaths have been prevented each year. The HAP is based on four strategies: Building public awareness and community outreach, an early warning system and inter-agency coordination, capacity building among health care professionals and reducing heat exposure and promoting adaptive. A very simple but effective measure is to paint the roofs with white lime paint. The so-called “cool roofs” can bring down indoors temperature by 2 to 5 degrees. In 2020, 15,000 buildings in Ahmedabad are to be equipped with these roof coatings.

The most liveable urban district in Germany? Children playing in the street, large green areas, no traffic noise – what sounds like a dream for most city dwellers is reality in Freiburg. The car-reduced traffic concept works by combining excellent public transport services, car sharing and extensive cycling and walking paths. The result: most people no longer need a private car – in Vauban there are less than 200 cars per 1,000 inhabitants while the national average is > 500.

Thanks to the “Better Market Street” project in San Francisco, one of the major arteries in the city has been mostly car free since January 2020. As part of their “quick build program”, the adjustments focus on traffic modifications that are fast and relatively cheap to implement. Just a few of the stunning results from the Better Market Street project are a 25% increase in bike ridership in the first two months and 12% reduction of travel times by bus. Contrary to expectations, congestion on neighboring streets increased only marginally. San Francisco chronicle put it best: “When cities shut streets off to cars, people drive less.” Carmageddon is overblown.