THE END OF THE CAR CITY
”A convenient truth”
Alexander Ståhle, PHD & CEO
ǀ URBAN RESEARCH & DESIGNSPACESCAPE

Why cities?

Proximity creates livability

Proximity creates innovation

Proximity creates social wellfare

Vad gör en attraktiv plats?
Fungerar planen som det var tänkt?
Vad skapar närhet och flöden?
SOFO
Proximity creates value

Housing value is 90% walkability in Stockholm
Appartment prices in Stockholm regionUrban qualities

“Walkability command a premium of $4-34,000”
CEO for Cities (2009)
”Walkable urban””Drivable suburban”

SHOPS
DENSITYDENSITY
SHOPS
STOCKHOLM MALMÖÖREBRO
RESTAURANTS
DENSITY
“Cities are proximity, density, closeness”
Edward Glaeser

Density decreases car use
Density
Travel
Dunphy RT and Fisher K (1996)

Average commute in Hong Kong is 11 min

“Individuals living near transit had a significantly
higher level of trust and reciprocity and
connections with neighbors.”
Patterns of social capital associated with transit oriented development, Journal of Transport Geography, 2014

“Denser areas have greater economic mobility.“
(Measuring sprawl, SGA, 2014)

“The compact walkable city enhance livelihoods for
the poor through affordable mobility.
It lower social segregation through proximity of
affordable housing to places of work”.
Joan Clos, UN Habitat

“An advanced city is not where the poor drive cars,
but where the rich take public transport” Enrique Penalosa

Car accessiblity do not affect
appartment prices or office rents in Stockholm
Public transport accessibility
Officerent

Failing office areas without transit and walkability
Infra City, Upplands Väsby

Inside Infra City, Upplands Väsby
Inside failing office areas…

"People in denser areas are more physically active."
(Neighborhood environment and physical activity, Eriksson, 2013)

"People in denser areas have
longer life expectancies." (Measuring sprawl, SGA, 2014)

5% drive to shop downtown
in New York and in Stockholm
(PPS 2010, Spacescape 2012)

"Pedestrians spend 65% more than drivers"
Transport for London (2014)

“1/3 of America’s malls are dead or dying”
deadmalls.com

Wallmart and IKEA goes urban

Gallerian shopping mall, Stockholm

Photoshop Gallerian shopping mall, Stockholm

Why not car cities?

People in cars can…

People in cars can´t interact

”When in my car I get
a different set of values”
Louis CK

New study on “road rage” (Gatersleben, Murtagh, White 2013):
•Car use has negative effects on urban communities by affecting social perceptions.
•More car use through a relatively poor area is associated with less positive views of that area.
•More walking through a relatively poor area is related to more positive views of the area.
•Attitudes towards young people are more negative when they are seen from a car.
•Attitudes towards young people are most positive when seen from a pedestrian perspective.
”Attitudes to people more negative
when seen from a car”

Car traffic segregate neighborhoods
Livable streets, Donald Appleyard (1981)

Car traffic is the most common complaint
Västra Ursvik, Sundbyberg
Rinkeby
Ursvik

Car dependency is unequal
- Women and poor drive less
(A car costs approx. $900 a month)

Cars take up space

Cars take up too much space

“Parking is the most incorrectly valued urban
asset... A $310 bn parking subsidy, 5X the
education budget.”
(Public Parking Fees and Fines, Public Works Management & Policy, 2014)

Car infrastructure is heavily subsidized

Sprawl consumes land
“In the last decade, an area larger than the entire state
of Maryland -- more than 33,000 square km of
farmland, woodlands and other natural habitat
beyond the edges of the nation's cities” (2014)

Ecosystems are destroyed and fragmented

”Green” cars?

Traffic make 20-25% of all CO2
Peak oil…?

The ecological footprint of a car is X800

Acid rain kills nature and pollutes water

”Long live the pedestrians” says who?

Car speed means death

Streets where playgrounds before the car
Allmänna vägen, Göteborg 1910

Bad density means more sprawl
- forces families to move to the suburbs

Cars kill 1,2 Mn and injure 39 Mn every year

Car driving promotes obesity and early death

2,4 Mn people dies from smog every year

”Car driving is like drug addiction”
(The compulsive habit of cars, Trends in cognitive science, 2014)

”Choice blindness”

Car city

Car city Walk city

The end of the suburbs – A war on the dream?

Who says walk cities?

“We should embrace policies that
promote the compact city”
Joan Clos, UN Habitat

“City transport is about moving people, not vehicles”
Rachel Kyte, World Bank

“High quality sidewalks are the most basic element
of a democratic city.” Enrique Peñalosa, ITDP

“Pedestrians and cyclists and bus riders are more
important — than car riders.” Michael Bloomberg, NYC

New American policies for walk cities
New York Chicago

New Swedish policies for walk cities

Walk cities reclaimed

Cities are being reclaimed and repaired

Squares are reclaimed
Time square, NY

Freeways are reclaimed
CicLAvia, Los Angeles

This used to be as freeway…”
Hayes Valley San Francisco

Parks are reclaimed
Champs Elysées, Paris

Parking spaces are reclaimed

Gardens are reclaimed

Playgrounds are reclaimed

Downtowns are reclaimed
Detroit

Small towns too – FLEN 2013

Small towns too – FLEN 2015

Small towns too – FLEN 2020

ǀ URBAN RESEARCH & DESIGNSPACESCAPE
Alexander Ståhle
PhD & CEO Spacescape
alexander.stahle@spacescape.se
www.spacescape.se