Back to the Future: “De-Transition” to Low-Car Cities

Abstract

Current urban mobility systems in Europe, characterized by high car mobility shares, have negative environmental and health impacts but struggle to mitigate these for fear of sacrificing accessibility. Ironically, before the car mobility transition (in the 1950s and 1960s in Western countries and the 1990s in Eastern Europe), most cities were accessible by walking, cycling, public transport, and by the few cars there were. Through a longitudinal case study of a medium-sized urban area in Clermont-Ferrand, France (1950–2022), this paper explores the potential to ‘de-transition’, i.e., to reverse the urban transition process towards ‘accessible, low-car cities’ by reshaping infrastructures to constrain car use whilst accommodating walking, cycling, and public transport. We answer the following questions: To what extent can cities reverse the urban car mobility transition? How could such a process be further encouraged? Our analysis adopts a social practices perspective and uses a mixed-methods approach by combining semi-structured interviews, a survey, and a document analysis. On the one hand, our findings highlight the difficulty of an urban modality shift to car alternatives: (1) the limited reach of public transformation networks (in Clermont-Ferrand, the tramline); (2) the fact that many feel unsafe or assume they need excellent health conditions to cycle, which is associated with leisure and sports; and (3) strong convictions concerning the usefulness of vehicle ownership, which is believed to maximise comfort. On the other hand, based on a historic analysis, we offer practical recommendations to de-transition to low-car urban areas: (1) the creation of an extensive regional tramway network; (2) the development of a full cycling network; and (3) the promotion of an extensive car-free city centre.

Sufficiency in Business

“…This includes both safe cycling infrastructure (pull factor), as well as infrastructure interventions that deter other forms of transport (push factors), specifically cars. Taillandier et al (2023) similarly found that push and pull factors need to be combined to decrease car dependence in cities. As Shove et al (2015) point out: "infrastructures embody and carry historically specific ideas about normal and appropriate ways of living, effectively transporting these from one generation to the next" (280).…”

“…This requires a transition towards sustainable levels of production and consumption in all sectors. Some suggest the need for a de-transition, for example, shifting back to car-free cities (Taillandier et al 2023) or simpler lifestyles (Osikominu/Bocken 2020) for sustainability. To tackle the excessive use of resources through consumption behavior and related production, sufficiency is an important leverage point.…”