Urban street space is increasingly contested. However, it is unclear what a fair street space allocation would look like. We develop a framework of ten ethical principles and three normative perspectives on street space -streets for transport, streets for sustainability, and streets as place -and discuss 14 derived street space allocation mechanisms. We contrast these ethically grounded allocation mechanisms with real-world allocation in 18 streets in Berlin. We find that car users, on average, had 3.5 times more space available than non-car users. While some allocation mechanisms are more plausible than others, none is without normative implications. Without exception, all principles suggest that on-street parking for cars is difficult to justify, and that more space should be allocated to cycling. We argue that street space fairness principles should be systematically integrated into urban and transport planning.
Business voices often oppose a redistribution of urban traffic space in favor of active transport modes. We surveyed 145 traders about their perceptions of their customers' mobility behavior and interviewed 2,019 shoppers on two shopping streets in Berlin, Germany. Our results indicate that traders overestimate car use and underestimate active transport. Further, potential customers more often live close to their shopping destinations than retailers perceive. Our findings can help explain the opposition of local business to sustainable transport infrastructure and offer a knowledge basis for better informed decision-making regarding urban land use in cities.
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