Returning cities to their rightful owners

Credit: Cabify

Not as many sectors face as big of a challenge nowadays as the transportation industry, particularly in terms of regulation, decarbonisation, technology, accessibility, security and, finally, how people want to move around cities. Not that long ago, a study¹ investigating the attitudes towards public transport and smart mobility in eight of the biggest capitals around the globe found that 75% of people would choose a better connected public transport system, rather than driving. But is that really a possibility?

We are so used to how cities have evolved that we do not notice that they are no longer designed for people. They have become structured for cars – there are now more and more private cars and less space for people. This is something that is surprising if we take into consideration the fact that these cars spend 95% of their time parked on streets or in parking lots without being used, stealing, for example, walking space for pavements while occupying an area that could be used, for instance, for parks.

“Buy a home and get a car,” I still remember how those two things determined if someone’s life was going well. Having a private car in a city today is, even sometimes, counterproductive considering the time that we spend driving the vehicle in a city jammed by other cars, the time that we waste trying to park it, the money that we have to invest in maintenance, gas, parking etc. All of that, plus the pollution that we generate when using our cars.

Please login or create an account below to continue reading: