Car-free Megacities
Rachel Aldred, Athena Brook, Charlie Couve, Jamie Furlong, Asa Thomas, and Ersilia Verlinghieri
Funded by Possible
Report created as part of Car-free Megacities collaborative project
THIS ONGOING COLLABORATIVE project with climate action charity Possible (funded by KR Foundation) aims to reimagine our cities as places where private cars are obsolete, starting with London, Paris and New York, and has led to the ATA producing a range of reports on topics related to active travel and reducing car use. For instance, Ersilia Verlinghieri led a high-profile study on cargo bikes and their potential to replace vans in inner London. She has also led a report looking at Paris’ recent transformation with the introduction of bike lanes, greening and School Streets. Interviewing a range of stakeholders and advocates, her work has sought to understand how the changes were implemented and what the barriers and enablers were. Another report led by ErsiliaVerlinghieri as part of this project has involved speaking with businesses in north London about the experiences of local streetscape changes.
Jamie Furlong recently led research looking at the impact of councillors’ tweeting about LowTraffic Neighbourhoods on voting patterns in London. This found that there was no clear correlation between LTN Tweets and re- election outcomes; if anything, tweeting about LTNs may have had a slightly positive impact on votes, although the relationship was different for Labour and Conservative councillors. The report was interesting because often controversial schemes are assumed to have large effects on voter sentiment and behaviour, but the research suggested that this may not actually be the case.
