Carfree Cities: An interview with J.H. Crawford
J.H. Crawford is the author of Carfree Cities and webmaster of
carfree.com.
Urbanphoto: How possible do you think it is for modern society
to accept the notion of car-free cities?
J.H. Crawford: I think that's a complex question that's going to take a lot of thought. The
popularity of the New Urbanism, however, is an indicator that people are losing their
patience with sprawl, traffic jams, loss of community, and ugly environments. I think that
as the awareness of these problems increases, more people will be willing to consider
alternatives, and that attention will naturally come to include the possibility of moving
cars out of cities all together. I think that the following factors will tend to increase
awareness of the problems and the receptiveness to the carfree approach.
- Cities exist to bring people close together, but the
automobile requires so much space that it actually forces people apart. This can be seen
in cities such as Cleveland, which actually saw its physical extent increase considerably
at the same time that its population declined. The car is the enemy of the compact
city. In large auto-centric cities, as much as 70% of downtown land is devoted to
streets, parking, and other car-related uses.
- Despite the vast resources expended on transport in
auto-centric cities (those based mostly or entirely on personal transport by car), no
large auto-centric city offers fast door-to-door transport during rush hour and often not
at other times, either.
- Americans are already far too familiar with the congestion
problems that have arisen in the past few decades as annual vehicle miles traveled have
increased far faster than the growth of the population. Highway engineers are now
reluctantly agreeing that increasing the capacity of the highway system by adding more
lanes or building new highways is not likely to solve the problem--the traffic will simply
increase to the point where the new roads are also clogged.
- Air pollution remains a serious and even increasing
problem in most US cities despite more than 30 years of increasingly strict emissions
controls on cars. Industrial air pollution has declined, but transport-related air
pollution is still a very serious problem that is affecting the health of millions of
Americans.
- Automobiles are the most dangerous means of transport in
common use, and while safety for car occupants has improved somewhat (on a
per-mile-traveled basis), safety for other street users has probably actually declined.
Public transport is much safer, especially rail-based systems.
The car has reduced the quality of life while absorbing
huge economic resources. The following are the most serious car-related problems
affecting quality of life (in addition to the problems already mentioned):
- Noise.
- Ugly commercial areas in which more space is devoted to
parking than to any other use. The areas are also dominated by enormous, ugly signs
designed to attract the attention of drivers hustling past.
- Reduced mobility for children as a result of the danger
posed by cars; parents don't want their children walking or biking on the street, and for
very good reason.
- Serious mobility problems for those who are no longer able
to drive.
- The crushing cost of operating two or more cars per
family.
- The costs of street and highway construction and
maintenance are high and by no means fully covered by road-use taxes -- general funds are
also used for these purposes, increasing the total tax burden.
- The provision of parking is very expensive, and the costs
are not usually borne by drivers alone--they are reflected in higher store and office rent
and other hidden charges.
It is important to keep in mind the great difference
between no cars at all and even just a few cars. As long as cars are free to roam the
streets, cities will lose the beneficial effects of streets as public spaces. The
peace of an urban neighborhood is gravely damaged by the noise of even a single car.
Peace decends once the noise of machinery is completely removed from streets and
greatly reduces the stress of modern life. This can be seen in Venice, where no cars ever
intrude, and where the only human sounds are normally heard in the streets. In such areas,
the streets become a vital part ofthe social landscape and serve as a host for the
development of a sense of community.
Damage to social life is the most important consequence of auto-centric development.
People spend less time on the streets as a result of the danger and pollution. The result
is a decline in the frequency and duration of casual social contacts, the glue that holds
communities together. There are also two really serious problems looming ahead:
- The end of cheap oil is in sight, so automobility based on
cheap gasoline may have to end.
- Global warming is a serious concern, and transport is the
largest sector in energy consumption and thereforegreenhouse gas production. It is
doubtful that renewable resources will be extensive enough to replace fossil fuels as a
source of energy for transport. Rail systems are far more efficient and can run on
electricity, which can easily be produced from any energy source, including renewable
sources such as solar energy.
I also think that the popularity of existing carfree
areas, coupled with the gradual expansion of these areas, will really bring home the point
that carfree areas are far more pleasant for pedestrians. This phenomenon could snowball
once people realize that we don't have to depend on cars for good mobility.
Urbanphoto: How can we start returning our cities to the
people instead of the car?
J.H. Crawford: I hope that my forthcoming book, Carfree Cities, will help spur
awareness that we have other alternatives and that these alternatives are actually much
more attractive than continued use of cars as a means of urban transport. I think that
once people are made fully aware of the true costs of automobility and the only minor
compromises with convenience that need to be made in carfree cities with top-quality
public transport, they will be willing to take a serious look at the prospects for truly
car- and truck-free cities.