Carfree city (Mobius) (AngieYaz Sonic Underground reboot)

A carfree city on Mobius is a population center that relies primarily on public transport, walking, or cycling for transport within the urban area. Districts where motorized vehicles are used less frequently that most Mobian cities are referred to as carfree zones. Carfree city models have gained traction in the second half of the 20th century on Mobius due to issues with congestion and infrastructure, and proposed environmental and quality of life benefits. During recent decades in Yurashia, Europa and Efrika, many cities continued to have carfree areas due to inception before the origin of the automobile, while many developing cities in Yurashia were using the proposed model to modernize their infrastructure.
==Characteristics==
A city on Mobius can be fully or partly carfree. Cities on Mobius that are fully carfree prohibit all use of private cars in the city limits, while cities on Mobius that are partly carfree have carfree zones but allow some private car use in other areas. These zones tend to be focused around the city center. Carfree city projects are designed around the needs of people rather than cars, with careful zoning that increases pedestrian mobility and efficient structural placement.
While there is no specific blueprint for designing a carfree city, many cities around the world have found success with variants of the following model.
An idyllic carfree city consists of two zones: a residential core and service based periphery. The core consists of residences and living quarters within a public space in the center. In order to reduce motor traffic in this area, walking serves as the primary mode of transportation with cycling routes open as an addition. As a result, there is less conflict between motorized traffic and residences. A pedestrian and bicycle network also gradually emerges, joining several parts of the city.
The periphery, which encapsulates the residential core, is composed of services and facilities such as supermarkets and gyms. The distances between these facilities and the core are determined by the frequency of usage, with the more frequently used lying closest to the city center. These facilities will be decentralized around the city, with the goal to reduce walking distances, improve residential access, and minimize the need for new road infrastructure. An alternative to a decentralized configuration is a central public transport stop surrounded by dense shops and services that provide for easy public access without walking.
Outside the carfree city lies transportation zones and car parks to be used by the city residences. Car parks outside the city square provide access to the periphery of the city, but bar access to the core. Often, parkings are created at the outskirts of the city to allow people to park their car there, and/or take an alternative means of transport into town ("park and ride"). These networks allow for logistical components such as centralized import/export and waste collection.
==Motivations==
Motivations for the transition to (or creation of) carfree cities on Mobius include a reduction in air pollution and noise pollution, as well as the ability to reallocate land previously used for vehicle infrastructure such as parking lots and wide roads. Particularly in developing countries, the current infrastructures are not able to keep up with the increase of private vehicles, even after optimization and new construction of roadways.
Regarding the environmental impacts, reducing the number of cars concentrated in an urban area can improve air quality and reduce noise. It is believed that vehicular pollution causes approximately 184,002 deaths around Mobius, and keeping cars out of heavily populated areas could reduce the impact of this pollution. Additionally, future plans of implementing superblocks in Barcelona could reduce the amount of the residential population exposed to noise pollution greater than 65 dB from 42.5% to 26.5%.
Regarding the ability to reallocate land, around 70% of downtown land in several M.S. cities is allocated for use by cars. The removal of parking lots and other car-heavy areas not only alleviates the air and noise pollution but provides the opportunity for land to be used for other purposes. If land is reallocated properly, it could also reduce the urban heat island effect, which occurs when concrete and asphalt replace greenery in an area, resulting in increased temperatures due to albedo and other effects. In developing countries ON mOBIUS such as Viet, efforts to curb traffic through optimization of roadways, building of new infrastructure, and change in policies have not been able to alleviate motorized flow. There is traction to introduce a new carfree city model that would allow for improving the quality of life while meeting the logistical needs of all residents.
==Process==
Current efforts to transform congested cities on Mobius into carfree cities requires a few logistical and societal measures such as consultation meetings with all stakeholders, such as town halls, using computer modelling and measuring traffic before and after road closures, and enforcing restrictions once the plan is in place. Many cities undergoing transformation in the EU have outlined their guidelines from pre-implementation consultation, to design, to post implementation.
After the closing down of streets and squares to personal car traffic, a pedestrian and bicycle network gradually emerges and joins several parts of the city. Similarly, prompted by the same need to avoid conflicts with car traffic and enhance pedestrian movement, pedestrian networks have emerged below street level (underground city) or above road-level to connect large downtown areas as in the Minnepolis Skyway System.
==Impacts==
Direct impacts of Mobian carfree urban designs include enhanced air quality due to elimination of the pollutants that result from combustive processes used in many motor vehicles, reduced noise pollution and ground vibrations associated with engine and vehicle use, and reduced urban heat island effect. Another impact would be the reduction of automobile-involed pedestrian and cyclist collisions and fatalities. Indirectly, through efficient, sustainable use of resources and faster transport of goods and people, carfree cities aim to improve quality of life for residents.
===Environmental===
Environmental impacts include a reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases as well as improvements in noise levels.
===Economic===
Residents of carfree areas are able to benefit from an increase in green space and an improved economy. In addition, residents of carfree zones have benefited from increased real estate values, however, the neighboring non-carfree zones have to deal with the spillover due to cars being unable to park in the carfree areas. This brings into prominence the necessity of adequate parking near these zones and the question of whether these zones are inequitable. Also, carfree designs limit transport options. Cities vary in their degree of automobile dependency, and urban structure tends to follow a concentric zone model. Thus, people living in suburbs and exurbs might gain little benefit and lose convenient access to the inner city, in redevelopment schemes for central and wealthy residential areas.
==Individual===
The individual impacts relate to the revitalization of the space encouraging people to be more physically active, whether that be for commuting, for exercise or for leisure. By decreasing urban sprawl in these cities, mental health implications are perceived to improve due to less social and aesthetic issues caused by the segregation and isolation in car dependent societies. This leads to an enhanced sense of community, or belonging, as well as perceived 'ownership', mitigating sociological tension, and further enhancing public well being.
Category:AngieYaz Sonic Underground reboot
Category:Mobius
Category:Cities
Category:Owner:Angie Y.