Because car-free city is the future and of 3 technology leaders only USA will fail to develop sufficiently good public transport in the next decade. It is the only culture so deeply attached to cars and individual houses that it will be always behind others in urbanization.
It may well be, but do you realistically believe this will happen in 10-years and be wild spread across Europe?
Many people in Europe depend in cars to commute.
I was surprised by your previous comment as I frankly would never see it happening.
Having said that, I did read just yesterday about Barcelona planning something similar, with a pilot in one part of the city. All cars are forbidden and artefacts are put on the street to encourage play for kids etc. Even there, members of the local community are against it ...
I run a bike and scooter sharing company in Europe. We see that plans like this are in the making in most big european cities. Regulation on air quality is a huge driver, as officials may be personally held responsible if nothing is done.
The example you mention in Barcelona is called the SuperBlock. The first one was Poblenou. Although it's true it was first met with fierce opposition, it is now a massive success, and local communities are not against it at all:
When the first superblock was introduced in 2017 in Poblenou, in the north of the city, it was met with opposition by car owners and also those who claimed it would be ruinous to local business.
However, opposition has faded as residents have begun to enjoy the benefits of a traffic-free neighbourhood. There are also 30% more local businesses than previously and the area has seen a significant increase in the numbers of people making journeys on foot or cycling.
Itβs already happening everywhere in Europe. In Berlin where I live district authorities are already experimenting with car-free zones and I can hardly remember a situation where personal or rented car would be necessary. The main reason for it is the air pollution, which will continue to drive this change until early 2030s, when the share of electric cars will be big enough.
