The pedestrian and city traffic

Abstract

This report gives a detailed picture of how planners, politicians, residents and transport engineers in three societies, Britain, Germany and the United States, reacted to one of the most powerful inventions of the late 19th century, the motor car. Misjudgements of the potential growth of motor vehicle ownership and its adverse effects had serious repercussions in the coming decades, primarily in the dense urban areas. Disturbing has been the underestimation of the importance of public transport as a real alternative to the motor car in urban areas, first by the United States and even several decades later by Britain. Of the three countries, only Germany seems to have struck a better balance. Not surprisingly, already at the beginning of the 20th century, conflicts occurred between the weaker road participants (pedestrians and cyclists), the existing urban fabric and the motor vehicle. A more comprehensive comparison between Britain and Germany shows that both countries developed specific patterns and had different attitudes towards road transport. Far more has been invested and planned in Germany whereas Britain has shown not so much a lack of foresight in planning but in investment in road transport. This major difference has had visible effects on today's urban structure and transport situation. The demand for restraint of motor traffic had different motives in the two countries, and is not such a new idea as is often assumed. While in Germany even in the 1920s and 30s the protection of historic inheritance was a decisive motive, in Britain that was not the case. Questions of traffic restraint were, however, raised in connection with road safety and later in the 60s as a means of improving the urban environment. The turning point of nearly unlimited promotion of car use in urban areas took place in Germany during the 60s and 70s, where as the Buchanan Report had already warned in the early 60s against the adverse effects cars could have in urban areas if they were not controlled. Although even in Britain the report was misunderstood and largely not put into practice, the wave of protest against road building occurred earlier there than in Germany.

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