Culture may be defined as the ideas, beliefs, and customs that a society shares. The economic and social well-being of cities is seriously threatened by congestion, pollution, and noise. Major traffic routes cause neighborhood severance, reducing the freedom of residents to move around our cities. Such routes also reduce our willingness to walk and cycle and encourage people to make more and more journeys by private car. Freight is increasingly transported by heavy-good vehicles within and between cities.
Cities face many problems associated with the fast growth of heavy traffic.
Cities must confront the growing conflict between the demands of road traffic and the human right to health. Health is increasingly jeopardized by pollution and the risk of death and injury in road traffic accidents. Access to many low-density suburban areas is currently perceived to be cheaper and faster by car than by public transport, and the proportion of trips made by car in suburban areas is higher than in central cities. The European Union has agreed to stabilize CO 2 emission levels to 1990 levels by 2000. Increased car-dependency associated with new patterns of urban development, the closure of local services, changing life styles, and deteriorating public transport contributes to the social and economic exclusion of citizens who do not have the use of a car.