Car-free zones (also known as auto-free zones and pedestrian zones) are areas of a city or town in which automobile traffic is prohibited. They are instituted by communities who feel that it is desirable to have areas not dominated by the automobile. Converting a street or an area to car-free use is called pedestrianisation. A street is a Public thoroughfare in the built environment It is a Public parcel of land adjoining Buildings in an urban context
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Europe
A large number, perhaps the majority, of European towns and cities have made part of their centres car-free since the early 1960s. Manarola ( Manaea in the local dialect is a small town a Frazione of the Comune (municipality of Riomaggiore, in The Cinque Terre (pronounced CHEEN-kweh TEHR-reh is a rugged portion of coast of the Riviera to the west of the city of La Spezia, in the province of La Spezia The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 These are often accompanied by car parks on the edge of the pedestrianised zone, and, in the larger cases, park and ride schemes. Parking lot (called a car park in Australia and the UK) is a cleared area that is more or less level and is intended for Parking vehicles Park and ride (or incentive parking) facilities are Public transport stations that allow commuters and other people wishing to travel into Central Copenhagen is one of the largest and oldest examples: the auto-free zone is centered on Strøget, a pedestrian shopping street, which is in fact not a single street but a series of interconnected avenues which create a very large auto-free zone, although it is crossed in places by streets with vehicular traffic. Copenhagen (ˌkəʊpənˈheɪgən ˌkəʊpənˈhɑːgən ˈkəʊpənˌheɪgən ˈkəʊpənˌhɑːgən kʰøb̥ənˈhɑʊ̯ˀn kʰøb̥m̩ˈhɑʊ̯ˀn is the capital and largest city Strøget (literally "the straight" or to wander) is a carfree zone in Copenhagen, Denmark. Most of these zones allow delivery trucks to service the businesses located there during the early morning, and street-cleaning vehicles will usually go through these streets after most shops have closed for the night.
The term "pedestrianised zone" is used in British English, and most other European countries use a similar term (French: zone piétonne, German: Fußgängerzone, Spanish: zona peatonal). British English or UK English ( BrE, BE, en-GB) is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the
There are also many towns and cities which have never allowed motor vehicles. The archetypal example is Venice, which occupies a myriad of islands in a lagoon, divided by and accessed from canals. An archetype ( pronounced: /ˈɑːkɪtaɪp/ (Brit or /ˈɑrkɪtaɪp/ (Amer Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the Canals are artificial channels for water There are two types of canals water conveyance canals which are used for the conveyance and delivery of water and Waterways Motor traffic stops at the car park at the head of the viaduct from the mainland, and water transport or walking takes over from there.
Other examples are Cinque Terre in Italy, Ghent in Belgium, which is one of the largest car-free areas in Europe and Rhodes old town, since many, if not most of the streets are too steep and/or narrow for automobile circulation. The Cinque Terre (pronounced CHEEN-kweh TEHR-reh is a rugged portion of coast of the Riviera to the west of the city of La Spezia, in the province of La Spezia Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Ghent (ˈɡɛnt Gent ʝɛnt in Dutch, Gand in French, and formerly Gaunt in English) is a City and a Rhodes ( Greek: Ρόδος - Ródos) is the principal city of the Greek island of Rhodes, in southeastern Aegean Sea and
Sark, one of the Channel Islands just out from the northern coast of France, is also a car-free zone. Sark (Sercq Sercquiais: Sèr) is a small Island in the southwestern English Channel. The Channel Islands ( Norman: Îles d'la Manche, French: Îles Anglo-Normandes or Îles de la Manche) are a group of Islands This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Transport there is mainly by horse-drawn cart and freight is pulled by tractors.
The medieval city of Mdina in Malta does not allow automobiles past the city walls. Mdina, Imdina, Città Vecchia, or Città Notabile, ( English: Notabile, or Medina) is the old capital of Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta (Repubblika ta' Malta is a European Microstate, comprising an Archipelago of three islands It is known as the "Silent City" due to the absence of motor traffic in the city.
Freetown Christiana has banned cars within its borders. Christiania, also known as Freetown Christiania (Danish Fristaden Christiania) is a partially self-governing neighbourhood of about 850 residents covering 34 hectares However, parking space for 14 cars has been established within its borders.
Mount Athos, an Autonomous Monastic State within the sovereignty of Greece, does not permit automobiles on its territory. Mount Athos (Όρος Άθως is a mountain on the Peninsula of the same name in Macedonia, of northern Greece, called in Greek Άγιον Sovereignty is the exclusive Right to control a Government, a country, a people or oneself Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία Trucks and work-related vehicles only are in use there.
North America
In North America, the creation of pedestrian-friendly urban environments is still in its infancy. Ottawa (ˈɒtəwə or sometimes /ˈɒtəwɑː/ is the Capital of Canada and the country's fourth largest municipality. Sparks Street is a street in downtown Ottawa, Canada that was converted into an outdoor Pedestrian street in 1966 making it the earliest such Few cities have pedestrian zones, but some have pedestrianized single streets. Many pedestrian streets are surfaced with cobblestones, or pavement bricks, thus discouraging any kind of wheeled traffic, including wheelchairs. Cobblestones are stones that were frequently used in the pavement of early Streets "Cobblestone" is derived from the very old English word "cob" A sidewalk (chiefly North American English) pavement ( British English and Philadelphia dialect) footpath ( Australian English A brick is a block of Ceramic material used in Masonry construction laid using mortar. They are rarely completely free of motor vehicles. Often, all of the cross streets are open to motorized traffic, which thus intrudes on the pedestrian flow at every street corner. In a few pedestrian streets with no cross street cars or trucks deliveries are made by trucks by night.
Canada
Some Canadian examples are the Sparks Street Mall area of Ottawa, the Distillery District in Toronto, Scarth Street Mall in Regina, Stephen Avenue Mall in Calgary (with certain areas open to parking for permit holders) and part of Prince Arthur street in Montreal. Sparks Street is a street in downtown Ottawa, Canada that was converted into an outdoor Pedestrian street in 1966 making it the earliest such Ottawa (ˈɒtəwə or sometimes /ˈɒtəwɑː/ is the Capital of Canada and the country's fourth largest municipality. The Distillery District is a historic and entertainment precinct located east of Downtown Toronto. Toronto (təˈrɒntoʊ colloquially pronounced or) is the largest city in Canada and is the provincial capital of Ontario Regina (rɨˈdʒaɪnə is the capital of Saskatchewan, Canada. Calgary (ˈkælgəriː is the largest city in the Province of Alberta, Canada Montreal, or Montréal in French ( pronounced in French, in English) is the largest city in the Canadian province of Quebec Algonquin and Ward's Islands, parts of the Toronto Islands group, are also car-free zones for all 700 residents. The Toronto Islands are a chain of small Islands in Lake Ontario. Since the summer of 2004, Toronto has also been experimenting with "Pedestrian Sundays" [1] in its busy Kensington Market. Granville Mall in Halifax, Nova Scotia was a run-down section of buildings on Granville Street built in the 1840s that was restored in the late 1970s. Granville Mall is an area in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Metropolitan Halifax (2006 pop 282924) often referred to as Metro Halifax, or inaccurately Halifax, is the urban part of the Halifax Regional Municipality The area was then closed off to vehicles.
United States
Mackinac Island in Michigan banned horseless carriages in 1896, making it auto free. Mackinac Island (ˈmækɨnɔː) is an island covering in land area belonging to the U Michigan ( is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. The original ban still stands.
In the 1960s and early 1970s many mid-sized cities in the United States experimented with installing pedestrian malls in their downtown areas, as a response to the commercial success of self-contained edge-of-town shopping malls. The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. Downtown retailers wanted to preserve their businesses; the cities wanted to defend their tax base. In 1959, Kalamazoo, Michigan became the first American city to adopt a pedestrian mall for their downtown area, closing two blocks of Burdick Street to automobile traffic. Ironically, they were working from a plan by Victor Gruen Associates, the same firm responsible for the first modern shopping mall in the country, Northland Shopping Mall in suburban Detroit. Victor David Gruen, born Viktor David Grünbaum ( July 18, 1903 - February 14, 1980) was an Austrian born commercial architect Northland Center is a Shopping mall located at Northwestern Highway and Greenfield Road and 8 Mile Road in Southfield, a suburb of Detroit Michigan
In 1997 there were about 30 pedestrian malls in the U. S. Some notable examples are the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville, Virginia; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Oak Park, Illinois; the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, California; the Buffalo Place Main Street Pedestrian Mall in Buffalo, New York; Ithaca Commons in Ithaca, New York; the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado; St. Charles, Missouri; Salem, Massachusetts; Ped Mall in Iowa City, Iowa; Lincoln Road in Miami Beach, Florida; the Fulton Mall in Fresno, California; the 16th Street Mall in Denver, Colorado; State Street in Madison, Wisconsin; Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis, Minnesota; The Grove in Los Angeles, California; Fort Street Mall in Honolulu, Hawaii; City Center in Oakland, California; Downtown Crossing and Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market in Boston; and many others. The Downtown Mall in Charlottesville Virginia is one of the longest Pedestrian malls in the United States. Charlottesville is an Independent city located within the confines of Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States Ann Arbor is a city in the US state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. Oak Park Illinois is a suburb bordering the west side of the City of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The Third Street Promenade is a Pedestrian street in Santa Monica California, United States. Buffalo (ˈbʌfəloʊ is the second largest city in New York State. The Ithaca Commons is a two-block Pedestrian mall in downtown Ithaca, New York, built in 1974. The City of Ithaca (named for the Greek island of Ithaca) sits on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, in Central New York Pearl Street Mall (also referred to as Pearl Street, Downtown Boulder or just simply Downtown) is a four block pedestrian mall in Boulder Colorado Boulder is a Home Rule Municipality that is the County seat and most populous city of Boulder County, Colorado, in the United States St Charles ( French: "Saint-Charles" Spanish: "San Carlos" is a city in and the county seat of St Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The Ped Mall, also known as the Pedestrian Mall, is a Pedestrian mall located in downtown Iowa City, Iowa, near the University of Iowa Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the principal city of the Iowa City Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area which Lincoln Road runs east and west between 16th Street and 17th Street on Miami Beach. The City and County of Denver (pronounced /ˈdɛnvɚ/ is the Capital and the most populous city of Colorado, in the United States State Street is a Pedestrian mall located in downtown Madison, Wisconsin, United States, near the Wisconsin State Capitol. Madison is the capital of the US state of Wisconsin and the County seat of Dane County. Nicollet Mall is a portion of Nicollet Avenue running through Downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Grove trolleyjpg|thumb|right|250px|The trolley takes shoppers on a short ride from The Grove to the Farmer's Market Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West Honolulu is the Capital and most populous Census-designated place (CDP in the U Oakland (ˈoʊklənd founded in 1852 is the eighth-largest city in the U Downtown Crossing is a shopping district in Boston Massachusetts, located due east of the Boston Common and west of the Financial District. Faneuil Hall (ˈfænl̩ previously /ˈfʌnl̩/ located near the waterfront and today's Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts, has been a marketplace Quincy Market is a historic building in a shopping center called Faneuil Hall Marketplace in downtown Boston Massachusetts. Typically these downtown pedestrian malls were three or four linear blocks simply blocked off to private street traffic, with fountains, benches, sittable planters, bollards, playgrounds, interfaces to public transit and other amenities installed to attract shoppers. A bollard is a short vertical post typically found where large Ships dock
Most of these experiments were failures in the respect that they cut off automobile traffic from retailers. Most were re-converted to accommodate automobile traffic within twenty years (originally 200 were founded of which around 30 remain). However, some of these areas are still popular attractions today. The Pearl Street Mall in Boulder continues to thrive with its college crowd atmosphere and the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica thrives on tourist traffic. The Downtown Mall in Charlottesville, Virginia, now a vital business, entertainment, and retail area, spent roughly twenty years as a somewhat depressed stretch until an ice skating rink and multiplex opened on it in the mid-1990s. The Downtown Mall in Charlottesville Virginia is one of the longest Pedestrian malls in the United States. Charlottesville is an Independent city located within the confines of Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States Broadway St. in Eugene, Oregon, is finally being developed with a hotel, movie theater, and retail after decades of limited economic activity following its experiment with a pedestrian mall. The city of Eugene ( "yoo-JEEN") is the County seat of Lane County, Oregon, The Federal Plaza in Downtown Youngstown, Ohio is a similar case. Downtown Youngstown is the traditional center of the city of Youngstown, Ohio, United States. Since the unsuccessful Federal Plaza has been ripped up and redesigned in 2004, the city of Youngstown has seen the development of a new entertainment district erupt. A new arena, two new courthouses, federal buildings, bistros and other new night-spots have placed themselves in Youngstown's core.
The villages of Fire Island in Suffolk County, New York is car free east of the Fire Island Lighthouse and west of Smith Point County Park (with the exception of emergency vehicles)
The San Antonio River Walk is a special-case pedestrian street, one level down from the automobile street. The San Antonio River Walk (also known as Paseo del Río) is a network of walkways along the banks of the San Antonio River, one story beneath downtown San Antonio The River Walk winds and loops under bridges as two parallel sidewalks lined with restaurants and shops, connecting the major tourist draws from Alamo Plaza to Rivercenter, to HemisFair Plaza, to the Transit Tower. Most downtown buildings have street entrances and separate river entrances one level below. This separates the unavoidable automotive service grid (delivery and ambulance/police vehicles) and pedestrian traffic below. It's an extensive system which achieves a nice balance among retail, commercial, office, greenspace and cultural uses. It gives the city an intricate network of bridges, walkways and old staircases, providing haptic and visual complexity. From an urban planning standpoint, the River Walk may be the best pedestrian-only realm on the continent, no motor vehicles or bicycles allowed.
In the last decades of the 20th century many urbanists have listed and explained what they see as the virtues of pedestrian streets. Urban renewal activists have often pushed for the creation of auto-free zones in parts or in all of the sectors of a metropolitan area. Urban Renewal (similar to Urban Regeneration in British English) is a controversial U
South America
Argentina
Argentina's big cities; Córdoba, Mendoza and Rosario have lively pedestrianised street centers (Spanish: peatonales) combined with town squares and parks which are crowded with people walking at every hour of the day and night. Córdoba, abbreviated as CBA, is a city located near the geographical center of Argentina, in the foothills of the Sierras Chicas mountains on the Mendoza (men'dōzə is the capital city of Mendoza Province, in Argentina. Public square and city square redirect here For Public Square Cleveland see Public Square and for City Square in Leeds see Leeds City Square. Most (if not all) of Argentina's cities are human-scale and pedestrian-friendly, although vehicle traffic may be hectic in some areas.
In Buenos Aires some stretches of Calle Florida Street have been pedestrianised since 1913. Buenos Aires is the Capital and largest city of Argentina. It is geographically located on the southern shore of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern Florida Street (in Spanish Calle Florida is an elegant street at Buenos Aires city centre Argentina, some stretches of which have been pedestrianised since [1] which makes it one of the oldest car-free thoroughfares in the world today. Car-free Calle Florida, Lavalle and other streets contribute to a vibrant shopping and restaurant scene where street performers and tango dancers abound, streets are crossed with vehicular traffic at corners. Florida Street (in Spanish Calle Florida is an elegant street at Buenos Aires city centre Argentina, some stretches of which have been pedestrianised since Busking is the practice of performing in Public places for Tips and Gratuities. Tango is a Musical genre and its associated dance forms that originated in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay and
Islands
A number of islands, including the islands of Borkum in the North Sea, Sark and Herm in the Channel Islands, Mackinac Island in Michigan, Paquetá Island in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Hydra in Greece enforce a ban on motor vehicles. Borkum is an island and a municipality in the Leer District in Lower Saxony, northwestern Germany. The North Sea is a marginal, Epeiric sea of the Atlantic Ocean on the European Continental shelf. Sark (Sercq Sercquiais: Sèr) is a small Island in the southwestern English Channel. Herm ( Guernésiais: Haerme) is the smallest of the Channel Islands that is open to the public Mackinac Island (ˈmækɨnɔː) is an island covering in land area belonging to the U Michigan ( is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. Paquetá Island (Ilha de Paquetá is an island in Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro ("River of January" ˈhiw dʒi ʒʌˈnejɾu in Brazilian Portuguese, /ˈriːoʊ di ʒəˈnɛroʊ/ in English is the second largest city of Brazil |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld Hydra (Ύδρα ˈiðra is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece, located in the Aegean Sea between the Saronic Gulf and the Argolic Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία
Neighborhoods
Several dozen new carfree neighborhoods have been built in recent decades, mostly in Europe. An example is Vauban, a neighborhood of 5,000 in Freiburg, Germany. Vauban is a new Neighborhood of 5000 inhabitants and 600 jobs 4km to the south of the town center in Freiburg, Germany. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe.
- North Africa contains some of the largest carfree areas in the world. North Africa or Northern Africa is the Northernmost Region of the African Continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Fes-al-Bali, a medina of Fes, Morocco, with its population of 156,000, may be the world's largest contiguous completely carfree area, and the medinas of Cairo, Casablanca, Meknes, Essaouira, and Tangier are quite extensive. A medina quarter (المدينة العتيقة is a distinct city section found in many North African cities Fes or Fez ( Arabic: فاس, French Fès is the fourth largest City in Morocco, after Casablanca, Rabat Morocco (المغرب "al-Maghrib" officially the Kingdom of Morocco (المملكة المغربية is a country located in North Africa Cairo () which means "the Vanquisher" or "the Triumphant" is the capital and largest city of Egypt. Casablanca (in Standard Arabic: الدار البيضاء ad-Dār al-Bayḍāʼ; Moroccan Arabic: dar beïda الدار البيضا Meknes (مكناس is a city in northern Morocco, located 130 kilometres from the capital Rabat and 60 kilometres from Fes. Essaouira (الصويرة eṣ-ṣauīrah formerly known as Mogador, its older name is a City / Wilaya and tourist resort in the western Moroccan Tangier or Tangiers ]] ( Tanja طنجة in Berber and Arabic, Tánger in Spanish
- Towns in many low-income countries are effectively largely carfree simply because cars are uncommon in those countries. As cars become more common, however, many of these towns are suffering from the ill effects that accompany motorization. The most serious instances can be found in Africa, where road death rates, expressed in terms of fatalities per vehicle, reach extreme values.
- Auto-free zones are fewer in North America. One example is the residential area of the Toronto Islands. The Toronto Islands are a chain of small Islands in Lake Ontario. A number of cities have created single pedestrian streets. Mackinac Island, between the upper and lower peninsula of Michigan, prohibits motorised vehicles on the island, except for emergency vehicles. Mackinac Island (ˈmækɨnɔː) is an island covering in land area belonging to the U Travel on the island is largely by foot, bicycle, or horse-drawn carriage. An 8. 5 mile road, M-185, rings the island, and numerous roads cover the interior. M-185 is a state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan that circles Mackinac Island, a popular tourist destination along the island's shoreline M-185 is one of the few highways in the United States without motorized vehicles. Downtown Crossing in Boston is a shopping district which prohibits automobiles during daytime hours. Downtown Crossing is a shopping district in Boston Massachusetts, located due east of the Boston Common and west of the Financial District. Both the main thoroughfare of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, and Memorial Drive, a busy road in Cambridge, MA are closed to car traffic each Sunday during the summer to allow pedestrians, bikers, skateboarders and roller/inlineskaters an opportunity to use the road. Cambridge Massachusetts is a City in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts, United States.
Auto-free zones have a great variety of attitudes or rules towards human powered vehicles such as bicycles, inline skates, skateboards and kick scooters. The bicycle, cycle, or bike is a pedal-driven, human-powered vehicle with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind M-185 is a state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan that circles Mackinac Island, a popular tourist destination along the island's shoreline Mackinac Island (ˈmækɨnɔː) is an island covering in land area belonging to the U The bicycle, cycle, or bike is a pedal-driven, human-powered vehicle with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind Inline skates (often called by the trade name Rollerblade) are a type of roller skate used for Inline skating. A kick scooter or push scooter is a small platform with two or more wheels that is propelled by a rider pushing off the ground Some have a total ban on anything with wheels, others ban certain categories, others segregate the human-powered wheels from foot traffic, and others still have no rules at all. Many of the Middle Eastern examples have no wheeled traffic, but use donkeys for freight transport. The donkey or ass, Equus asinus, is a member of the Equidae or horse family and an odd-toed ungulate.
See also
- Carfree day
- List of carfree places
- Carfree Cities
- Living street
- Jan Gehl
- Principles of Intelligent Urbanism
External links
- World Carfree Network
- carfreelife.com
- Carfree.com
- Community Cycles - Working towards creating car-free lifestyles
- Carfree areas worldwide, from Autofrei Wohnen (in German with a few English pages or English subtitles)
References
- ^ (Spanish) Calle Florida History: www.buenosaires.com
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