about cities, especially carfree cities, needs to go all the way
back to the beginning. Not only is the car a mistake, but the
Renaissance notion of tidy, regular street geometry is an error. The
use of paper to plan cities, which also originates in the
Renaissance, is also an error. The notion that architecture is an
art form, not a craft, is another crucial error in thought about
urban design.
A great many new cities will be built in the next 50 years. Most of
them will be in China and India. The first new carfree city is
already under construction in Abu Dhabi. It's called Masdar. There
is every reason why new cities (and large additions to existing
cities) should follow the carfree model. Land take and energy
requirements lead the list, but there are many other reasons.
I am starting to think about a process for converting existing
cities to the carfree model. The results will not be as good as for
purpose-built carfree cities, but I believe we can get pretty close.
The Lyon Protocol is indeed the basic political method I propose,
but it is only an outline.
I believe that given the challenges of climate change and peak
energy we will probably have carfree cities whether we want them or
not. My objective is to ensure that we get them, along with the
greatest possible improvement in the quality of life.
Regards,
J.H. Crawford

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