Abstract
Worldwide, academics and practitioners are developing ‘planning-oriented’ approaches to reduce the negative impacts of car traffic for more sustainable urban and transport development. One such example is the design of car-reduced neighborhoods, although these are controversial issues in the hegemonic ‘system’ of automobility. Despite the reduction of emissions and frequent recognition as ‘best practice examples’, ‘planning-critical’ research questions the underlying objectives and narratives of such sustainable developments. Our study contributes to this research perspective by improving the understanding of narratives that emerge along with car-reduced housing developments. For this purpose, we analyze two car-reduced neighborhoods in the City of Darmstadt (Germany) by conducting interviews with different actors involved in the planning and implementation processes. Our investigation reveals that the development of car-reduced neighborhoods (i) is consciously embedded in the context of sustainability, (ii) is characterized by power relations, (iii) follows normative indicators, and (iv) does not always correspond to lived realities. Altogether, the traced narratives of car-reduced neighborhoods are embedded in the overarching debate on sustainability, while at the same time revealing the dependence of society on the automobile. Thus, the hegemonic ‘system’ of automobility—although it is beginning to crack—continues to exist.
Highlights
The negative impact of car traffic on the environment and society, which is well known and numerously documented (e.g., References [1,2]), pose multiple challenges for cities today [3,4]
The traced narratives of car-reduced neighborhoods are embedded in the overarching debate on sustainability, while at the same time revealing the dependence of society on the automobile
Our study aims to develop a further understanding of the narratives produced along with car-reduced neighborhoods by the various actors involved in the planning and implementation processes
Summary
The negative impact of car traffic on the environment and society (e.g., noise and pollutant emissions, energy and land consumption, etc.), which is well known and numerously documented (e.g., References [1,2]), pose multiple challenges for cities today [3,4]. The recent actions for clean air by the German environmental organization Deutsche Umwelthilfe underline once again the existing correlation between transport and climate change, as well as transport and health [5]. Both public and academic discourses call for a fundamental shift away from private cars towards more sustainable mobility. As the automobile continues to determine an individual’s everyday mobility through its built and non-built persistences, sustainable urban and transport developments are still controversial issues in the hegemonic ‘system’ of automobility [9,10]. The development of car-free or car-reduced urban neighborhoods pursues the goal of reducing car traffic and increasing quality of life
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