Germany-Residents are suburan pioneers, going where few soccer moms or commuting have ever gone before: they have given up their cars.

Street parking, driveways and hoem garages are generally forbidden in this experimental new district on the outskirts of Freiburg. Car ownerships are allowed to park on the edge of the street, but there are only two places to park-large garages at the edge of the development. They buy space for 40,000 along with their home.

70 percert of Vauban's families do not own cars, and 57 percent sold a car to move  here. They all say they are much happy this way and love that they sold their car just to move somewhere they wanted to live. People that are walking down the street usually get talked about and get weird stares because most people have car and don't walk.

In 2006, Vauban completed an example of a growing trend in Europe, teh United States and elsewhere to seperate suburan life from auto use, a compnonet called "smart planning."

Middle-class families from Chicago to Shanghai tend to mkae their homes. Experts say thats a huge impediment to current efforts to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions from tailpipes. 12 percent green house gas emissions in Europe and up to50 percent some car-intensive areas in the United States.

New York suburbs with spread-out homes and private garages, ere the dream towns of the 1950s and still exert a strong appeal. The Environmental Protection Agency is promoting "car reduced" communities, and legislators are starting to act cautiosly. IN the previous bills, 80 percent of appropriations have by law gone to highways and only 20 percent to other transport.

In Colombia a program that's set to spread to other countried, millions of Coolombians hiked, biked, skated or took buses to work during a car-free day, leavingthe street to this capital city eerly devoid of traffic jams.

The third straight year cars have been banned with only busses and tavis permiteed for the Day Without Cars int his capital of 7 million. The goal is; promote alternative transportation and reduce smog.

The day without cars is part of an omprovement campaign that began in Bogota in the mid-1990s. Its seen the construction of 118 miles of bicycle paths, the most of Latin American city, according to the mayor. Parks and sports centers also have bllomed throughtout the city; uneven, pitted sidewalks have been replace by bread, smooth sidewalks; rush-hour restrictions have dramatically cut traffic.

President Obama's ambitious goals to curb the United States' greenhouse gas emissions, unveiled last week, will geta fortuitous assist. Americans are buying fewer cars, driving less and getting fewer licenses as each year passes. The United States, has no longer been on of the world's prime car cultures.

America's love affair with its vehicles seems to be cooling. When they adjusted the population growth, the number of miles driven in the United States peaked in 2005 and dropped steadily thereafter. In January 1995, the number of miles driven per person was nearly 9 percent below the peak and equal to where the country was.

Many sociologists believe it will have beneficial implications for carbon emissions and the environment. Companies like Ford and Mercedes are already rebranding themselves "mobility' companies with a broader product range beyond the personal vehicle. With all these cahnges, people who stopeed car commuting as a result of the recession may find less reason to resume the habit.

A study last year found that driving by young people decreased 23 percent between 2001 and 2009. Whether members of the millennial generation will start buying more cars once they have kids to take to soccer practice and school plays remains an open question.

At the Mobile World Congrew last year in Barecelone, Spain, Bill Ford, executive chairman of the Ford Motor Company, laid out a business plan for a world in which personal vehicle ownership is impractical or undesirable. Publice transportation traffic, pedestrains, bicycles, private cars, commercial are woven into a connected network to save time, conserve resources, lower emissions and improve safety.