Город без автомобилей: концепции и модели планирования

Urban area absent of motor vehicles

A carfree city is an urban area absent of motor vehicles. Carfree cities rely on public transport, walking, and cycling for travel as opposed to motor vehicles. Districts where motor vehicles are prohibited are referred to as carfree zones. Carfree city models have gained traction in the second half of the 20th century due to issues with congestion and infrastructure, and proposed environmental and quality of life benefits. Many cities in Asia, Europe, and Africa have carfree areas due to the cities being created before the invention of motor vehicles, Carfree city projects are designed around the needs of people rather than cars, with careful zoning that increases pedestrian mobility and efficient structural placement. While there is no specific blueprint for designing a carfree city, many cities around the world have found success with variants of the following model. An idyllic carfree city consists of two zones: a residential core and service based periphery. The core consists of residences and living quarters within a public space in the center. Outside the carfree city lie transportation zones and car parks to be used by the city residences. Car parks outside the city square provide access to the periphery of the city, but bar access to the core. Often, parkings are created at the outskirts of the city to allow people to park their car there, and/or take an alternative means of transport into town ("park and ride"). These networks allow for logistical components such as centralized import/export and waste collection. Additionally, future plans of implementing superblocks in Barcelona could reduce the amount of the residential population exposed to noise pollution greater than 65 dB from 42.5% to 26.5%. Regarding the ability to reallocate land, around 70% of downtown land in several U. S. cities is allocated for use by cars. Many cities undergoing transformation in the EU have outlined their guidelines from pre implementation consultation, to design, to post implementation. After the closing down of streets and squares to personal car traffic, a pedestrian and bicycle network gradually emerges and joins several parts of the city. Similarly, prompted by the same need to avoid conflicts with car traffic and enhance pedestrian movement, pedestrian networks have emerged below street level (underground city) or above road level to connect large downtown areas as in the Minneapolis Skyway System. For new areas on the fringe of cities or new towns, two new complementary ideas have emerged. The concept of Filtered Permeability (2007) and a model for planning towns and subdivisions the Fused Grid (2003). Both focus on shifting the balance of network design in favor of pedestrian and bicycle mobility.

Direct impacts of carfree urban designs include enhanced air quality due to elimination of the pollutants that result from combustive processes used in many motor vehicles, reduced noise pollution and ground vibrations associated with engine and vehicle use, and reduced urban heat island effect. Another impact would be the reduction of automobile involved pedestrian and cyclist collisions and fatalities. Indirectly, through efficient, sustainable use of resources and faster transport of goods and people, carfree cities aim to improve quality of life for residents.

Environmental impacts include a reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases as well as improvements in noise levels. After limiting the access of cars to the city center in Madrid, nitrogen oxide levels fell by 38% and carbon dioxide fell by 14.2% in the city center. These emissions also fell across the whole city of Madrid by 9% for nitrogen oxide and 2% for carbon dioxide. This brings into prominence the necessity of adequate parking near these zones and the question of whether these zones are inequitable.

The city of Venice serves as an example of how a modern city can function without cars. This design was unintentional as the city was founded over 1,500 years ago, long before the invention of the automobile. Visitors who drive to the city or residents who own a car must park their car in a carpark outside of the city and then proceed either by foot or train into the city. The city's government cites several aims for this plan, including more sustainable mobility and a revitalization of public spaces. The COVID 19 pandemic gave birth to proposals for radical change in the organization of Barcelona, such as the Manifesto for the Reorganisation of the City after COVID 19, published in Barcelona and signed by 160 academics and 300 architects, with the elimination of the car as a key element.

Since the 1970s, Nuremberg, Germany, has closed major vehicular traffic corridors in phases, amounting to a largely carfree city center.

In Ghent, Belgium, a circulation plan has been initiated and now the entire city heart (35 hectares) is partially carfree. Sections exist where cars can drive as well as sections that are car free. In some sections, public transport, taxis and permit holders may enter but they may not exceed 20 km/h.

Masdar City, United Arab Emirates, is a futuristic city designed with eco friendly principles in mind. Masdar City adopted a carfree philosophy as part of its fundamental basis of being an eco city.

The Great City, in China, is another example of a newly developed city, designed with the fundamentals of a carfree city in mind.

The Line is a linear smart city under construction in Saudi Arabia in Neom, Tabuk Province, which is designed to have no cars, streets or carbon emissions.