Discussion: Potential for carfree development in the UK

摘要

On reading the interesting article 'Potential for carfree development in the UK' by Melia et al. (2013), the contributors were struck by the notion that nowhere in the extant literature is there a comprehensive taxonomy of what might be termed 'carfree communities' in the most general sense. As a tentative first step in this direction, 10 possible criteria to consider are proposed. The first relates to the degree or level of 'carfreeness' in a community and whether the emphasis is on either ownership or use, or both (Melia, 2010). For instance, in some cases, car ownership is entirely forbidden while in others car use may merely be deterred at particular times of day by the imposition of access charges (Litman, 2012). The second is the spatial size of such 'communities', which might range from certain types of vehicle being denied entry to a single site or road facility (such as the Straget shopping street in Copenhagen, Denmark), right up to a town (Venice, Italy) or even potentially a region or nation (Cuba) being entirely 'carfree' (Crawford, 2000; Wright, 2005).