From Redesigning Streets to Building Utopian Cities

Around the world, efforts are underway to transition into more sustainable urban mobility, primarily by reducing the number of private cars. One way to achieve this is by revising city policies just like Hanover’s plan to remove almost all street-side parking. Similarly, cities like Amsterdam and other European urban centers, are implementing significantly reduced vehicle speed limits to discourage car usage. In the US, Santa Monica, CA  is taking it one step further by launching a pilot program in which residents are offered cash and public transportation tickets to encourage living without a car. In other observations, cities like New York and Manila are trying to maintain the progress they made during the pandemic.

 For those who can afford it, there’s also the option of building a city from scratch. The massive Saudi Arabian city project ‘The Line’ in NEOM seems now to slowly materialize but is drawing criticism for its basic design concerning mobility. In Norther California, a group of affluent Silicon Valley people has quietly bought a significant piece of land, allegedly to create an utopian city. Perhaps Spain’s Elysium City represents a more modest compromise between these two extremes?