Why putting people first can make cities work better for everyone
This article was originally featured on Urbanist Platform on 20 November 2019. For the original article, see here. For more information on my master’s thesis research - which this article draws on - see here.
There’s no doubt that in most cities, the car is still king. Mid- to late-twentieth century city planning largely placed priority on cars, radically transforming the face of cities and indeed influencing the very lifestyles of people, essentially forcing many people into car ownership. Whilst cars have undoubtedly delivered benefits for society, prioritising vehicles in cities has caused a plethora of problems for people that live there: Air pollution, congestion, carbon emissions and physical inactivity to name but a few.
The car may still sit upon the transport throne in most cities, but a growing number of cities across Europe are now beginning to tackle the dominance of cars and re-balance urban transport. There’s many ways to achieve this -- congestion charges, parking levies and mass cycling infrastructure are all becoming more and more common. But more and more cities are pursuing something even more transformative: Car-free city centres.
A host of cities across Europe already have designated car-free zones in their centres -- many thanks to their historic, narrow streets not suited to cars. But there’s a growing popularity of going one step further by transforming city centres back into spaces for people. Brussels, Oslo, Barcelona and Edinburgh have all recently created or announced plans to create city centres which put people and public transport ahead of movement by cars.
Oslo: Car-free City Life
Oslo has become something of a poster boy for cities seeking a car-free future. Prior to its car-free city centre, Oslo was already doing well by most cities’ standards -- high public transport use, the electric vehicle capital of the world and relatively compact city planning. But the municipality wanted to go one step further. Back in 2015, following the election of a new governing coalition, Oslo Kommune (the municipal government) announced its intention to create a new car-free city centre by 2019. The ‘Bilfritt Byliv’ (Car-Free City Life’) programme was subsequently launched, principally aiming to - as the name suggests - create more ‘city life’ in Oslo by designing a more attractive and liveable city centre where people were able to, and wanted to, spend time.
Starting in 2017, the two years following saw major changes to the centre of Oslo, with a rapid but staggered transformation of streets and public spaces. 700 public parking spaces were removed, whilst new dedicated parking spaces for people with disabilities, tradespeople (e.g. plumbers) and delivery vehicles were created. Pedestrian zones were extended, cycle lanes were rolled out and public transport was given greater priority. New measures to create a more attractive and welcoming city centre were introduced, including public seating, play areas, street trees and other greenery, public toilets and more. In less than three years, Oslo had undertaken changes which some cities have taken decades to achieve.
Oslo has been widely praised in international media for its efforts, and rightly so. It’s proving to be an inspiration for other cities to follow suit. But dig a little deeper, and supposed car-free utopia has had some problems along the way.
Opposition to Bilfritt Byliv
No sooner were plans for the car-free city centre announced than opposition arose to Bilfritt Byliv. Political parties outside of the governing coalition raised objections - including some rather over-the-top claims - regarding the impact on people who currently drove into and around the city centre. Some citizens also raised concerns regarding what changes would be taking place and how travel into the city would be affected. But most of the opposition to Bilfritt Byliv has come from another group: Businesses.
One of the main criticisms commonly thrown at projects aiming to reduce car use in cities is their supposed impact on businesses and economic activity. Despite ample evidence showing that prioritising movement on foot, bike and public transport can actually increase business activity and revitalise local economies, businesses have routinely been found to oppose to car-free projects. Oslo was no different: The majority of businesses surveyed by Oslo Kommune in 2018 were found to oppose the Bilfritt Byliv project. Given the political significance of businesses as employers and contributors to economic activity, it’s unsurprising that getting car-free city centre projects right for businesses is of great importance for their political acceptability.
Reducing business opposition to car-free city centres
So what can be done to make car-free city centre projects more palatable for businesses and ensure that their needs are met in these schemes? Perhaps unsurprisingly, there’s no silver bullet for reducing business opposition to these schemes. But that doesn’t mean that car-free city centres can’t work for businesses. On closer inspection in Oslo, opposition to Bilfritt Byliv appears to have arisen from a range of issues, most of which relate to how the project has been managed, rather than the premise of reducing car use. Many of the points of objection - such as a lack of consultation and communication about the planned changes, and issues with the rate at which measures were implemented - can hypothetically be resolved by improving the design and implementation of car-free city centre projects.
To make car-free city centres meet the needs of businesses, there’s a few key things which need to happen:
Early and meaningful collaboration
Recognising the role of business as an integral part of city centres is vital. Municipalities need to closely involve and engage businesses throughout the development of the car-free city centre to ensure that concerns are captured and solutions integrated into the project. Additionally, working closely with business organisations is important in building trust and cooperation between the business community and the municipality. Finding compromises on proposals, for example on matters of delivery access, is crucial.
Clear communication
Setting out a clear and consistent communication strategy early on is key for ensuring that all stakeholders are kept informed and engaged with the car-free project. In particular, this appears important in providing more certainty and stability for the business community. Focusing communications around project objectives which multiple stakeholders have an interest in - such as creating a more attractive city centre - and promoting the benefits of reducing car use could also be an important means of getting people on board with the project.
Monitoring the impact
Municipalities should aim to gather and monitor data on the economic impact of a car-free city centre. This is a potentially complex task, but provides useful insight into the impact of changes to different areas of the city centre and appears important in easing concerns in the business community. In the event that negative economic impacts do occur, this allows problems to be identified quickly and solutions to be implemented in response.
Take a holistic approach
Integrating a car-free city centre within the wider context of a city is vital in achieving a coordinated and holistic approach to addressing a number of issues in a city. In particular, ensuring that the car-free project is well integrated into wider strategies for the economy, housing, planning and transport is key to maximising the potential of these projects.
A blueprint for the future
Bilfritt Byliv is an excellent example of how real change can be delivered in a short space of time to create a liveable, attractive and successful city. Ultimately, disagreements and conflicts will occur when transforming city centres into more liveable places. But there’s a lot of common ground to be found: After all, everyone wants to live in a happy, healthy, attractive and successful city. Working together is the only way to make that a reality. Yes, Oslo hasn’t got everything right in its journey to a car-free future, but the Norwegian capital is showing other cities that putting people first in cities is not only possible, but it is preferable for a whole host of reasons. Other cities should now look to learn from the case of Oslo and create city centres that work better for everyone.