Carless
Car-free , also known as a car ban, describes the renunciation of motorized individual traffic with automobiles , both in relation to spatially limited areas and in relation to life situations.
Car-free areas
A distinction must be made between car-free areas that are not connected to the road network and those in which there are usually temporally or spatially limited measures that prevent motor vehicles from being operated.
- Locations that have no access to the road network due to their difficult geographical location and in which there is no or hardly any motorized traffic are referred to as car-free. The old town of Venice is the largest contiguous car-free area in Europe in this sense . In some cases, although a road connection would be technically feasible, the previous status is retained.
- Prescribed car-free areas are regulated by laws or local government regulations. Exceptions can e.g. B. intended for emergency doctors or police . The “freedom from cars” can apply for a certain period of time, a certain route or even for entire localities . For example , although Zermatt is connected to the Swiss road network, it is generally car-free and can only be reached by train without a special permit. The area of the German municipality of Insel Hiddensee is also car-free. Only electric vehicles are allowed to drive on the East Frisian Islands (with the exception of Borkum and Norderney ). This is stipulated for the island of Helgoland in Section 50 of the German Road Traffic Act: "On the island of Helgoland, motor vehicle traffic and cycling are prohibited."
Car-free living
In some German cities car-free or partially car-free city quarters have been implemented, e.g. B. in Hamburg, Munster, Freiburg im Breisgau ( Vauban ) and Munich, in Europe z. B. in Amsterdam and Edinburgh. There are also many smaller projects, for example in Cologne-Nippes . Some claim cost savings through undeveloped underground car parks (e.g. Bremen, Vienna).
There are also efforts by various groups to make entire streets or entire existing city districts car-free ( transport policy ). You expect u. a. more road safety for the children living there. It can and should also be used to show that modern life is also possible without a car on the doorstep , provided that there is a dense public transport network and / or good transport networks for bicycle and pedestrian traffic .
Car-free life
Cars are not supposed to drive in the planned city and eco-city of Masdar City in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates . The city is planned for almost 50,000 people who will work (research in renewable energies) and live there. The reason for this decision was not only the CO 2 pollution from combustion engines, which would have contradicted the goal of an eco-city (theoretically, this could have been solved with so - called emission - free vehicles ), but also the still growing car registrations and that in the capital of the Emirates (Abu The traffic collapse prevailing in Dhabi finally led the planners to generally ban cars.
As a replacement for motorized individual traffic, so-called personal rapid transit networks are to be installed locally within Masdar and two other districts of Abu Dhabi . This is an electrically motorized individual transport in which the user arrives at his own destination in an automated cabin.
Car-free people
Furthermore, people who consciously live without their own car describe themselves as car-free - in contrast to involuntarily (e.g. for financial reasons) carless people. Car-free people often justify their decision with the disadvantages of the car for society, for example:
- Accident frequency : According to the WHO , more than 1.2 million people die each year as a result of traffic accidents in which automobiles are involved. According to the Federal Statistical Office, 3377 people were killed in Germany (2014), meaning that an average of 9 to 10 people lost their lives every day. The number of injured is around 400,000 in Germany alone.
- Pollutant emissions and toxicity : According to estimates by the Federal Environment Agency , at least 14,000 people die every year in Germany as a result of diesel exhaust fumes. Tire wear is one of the main sources of microplastics in the environment.
- Global warming : automobiles powered by fossil fuels produce large amounts of the greenhouse gas CO 2 .
- Land use : for streets, highways and parking lots.
- Construction costs : underground garages and parking spaces close to apartments limit planning options and make housing construction more expensive.
- Noise emissions : According to studies by the Federal Environment Agency, there is a clear connection between road traffic noise and cardiovascular diseases.
- Raw material consumption: For example, several hundred thousand liters of water are used in the manufacture of an automobile.
- Danger of war : Because of the enormous amount of oil used by cars, oil is becoming increasingly scarce and competitive.
- World hunger : Most developing countries spend more foreign currency on oil and cars than on any other vital import. Furthermore, agricultural land is already being used to produce car fuels such as methanol and biodiesel , while people are still starving in their thousands - e.g. B. in Brazil. (See also under Renewable Raw Material .)
- Isolation : Commuters with cars, in particular, often lead an isolated life outside of their place of work during the week. In the US, working people, college students and schoolchildren already consume 25% of their daily groceries in their cars. In many families there is no longer a common breakfast in the house.
- Quality of life : Life without a car leads to more exercise and promotes social contacts.
- Urban qualities : The public space can be used again by everyone. Children also win because they can cover longer distances independently.
Limited car-free campaigns
- Car-free day , since the 1950s in the context of oil imports, today increasingly in relation to a traffic turnaround with environmental concerns
National
Germany
The political scientist Winfried Wolf presented a concept for a car-free Marburg in 1993 .
Some North Sea islands in Germany are car-free (Helgoland, Baltrum, Langeoog, Juist, Spiekeroog and Wangerooge each completely, Borkum and Norderney partially), one Baltic Sea island (Hiddensee), the island of Mainau in Lake Constance and the Herreninsel in Chiemsee. Many cities, including Heidelberg and Potsdam, have large pedestrian zones or car-free zones.
Switzerland
Due to their difficult geographical location, due to technical and financial obstacles, some places in the Swiss mountain area were not accessible by road for a long time; When the opportunity or the means were available, however, in several places (also for tourist reasons) it was decided to continue to do without it.
In 1900, cars were generally banned throughout the Canton of Graubünden . It was not until mid-1925 - after ten referendums - that the vehicles were allowed on the most important routes.
Places that can only be reached by train or cable car in Switzerland include Braunwald , Gimmelwald , Mürren , Niederrickenbach , Rasa , Riederalp , Bettmeralp , Gspon , Schatzalp , Stoos , Wengen , Landarenca and Zermatt . For guests arriving by car, parking spaces or houses are available at the last train station or valley station that can be reached by car at these locations, for example for Mürren and Wengen in Lauterbrunnen , for Zermatt in Täsch . Quinten in the municipality of Quarten am Walensee can only be reached on foot or by boat.
However, these places are not completely car-free, because z. B. in Zermatt only cars with combustion engines. Service or construction vehicles with internal combustion engines sometimes operate in places that cannot be reached by car. Only electric cars are permitted in Zermatt, but in consideration of the large number of pedestrians and road safety, they are only allowed to drive a maximum of 20 km / h. With the exception of the electric buses, many of these small and narrow electric cars are on the road - as transport vehicles for craftsmen, as delivery vehicles for supermarkets, shops, restaurants and hotels, and as taxis or hotel pick-ups to pick up guests and their luggage from the train station. Since 55.2% of the electricity in Switzerland is produced with hydropower and 40% with nuclear power plants (as of 2007), these electric cars are not only almost emission-free on site, but the use of nuclear energy produces radioactive waste . Depending on the usage profile, the operators have two or three batteries per vehicle that can be changed.
Saas-Fee is limited car-free and can be reached by road as far as the entrance to the village, but only allows electric cars in the village, with the exception of a doctor, fire brigade, garbage disposal, etc.
In Switzerland there have already been two referendums on regular car-free Sundays:
- May 28, 1978 - Federal popular initiative "for 12 motor vehicle-free Sundays per year"
- May 18, 2003 - Popular initiative "for a car-free Sunday per season - an attempt for four years (Sunday initiative)"
Both popular initiatives were rejected by the Swiss people, in 1978 with 63.7% no votes and in 2003 with 62.4% no votes.
Related topics
- Weekend driving ban , in some countries for trucks
- Environment : public transport, cycling and running as an alternative to the car
- Gentle mobility
- Traffic turnaround
literature
- Michael Hartmann: The car driver. AutoBiography of a car opponent. Unrast, Münster 1998, ISBN 3-928300-81-4 .
- Nikolaus Huhn, Matthias Lemke (Ed.): About life without a car. A reader. Ökom-Verlag, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-928244-60-4 .
- Oscar Reutter, Ulrike Reutter: Car-free life in the city: Car-free city quarters in the existing stock. Dortmund sales for building and planning literature, Dortmund 1996, ISBN 3-929797-29-1 .
- Markus Schmidt: Built-in right of way. The secret of the car's success and the key to the turnaround in traffic. 2nd, improved edition. Mainhatten-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2002, ISBN 3-9803508-8-6 .
- Winfried Wolf : The car-free city. The car madness using the example of the city of Marburg an der Lahn. History, perspective and alternative. Neuer ISP-Verlag, Cologne 1993, ISBN 3-929008-41-6 .
- Winfried Wolf: Dead end car company. Highest railway for an alternative (= isp pocket. Volume 52). 3rd, revised and updated edition. ISP <! "ISP" or "Neuer ISP-Verlag"?>, Cologne 1993, ISBN 3-929008-52-1 .
- Winfried Wolf: Berlin - a metropolis without a car? Transport history 1848–2015. ISP, Cologne 1994, ISBN 3-929008-74-2 .
Web links
- live car-free! e. V.
- Living without a car - the living idea, network living plus mobility
- Car-free living, extensive site with lists of car-free residential areas and car-free vacation spots worldwide
- Live car-free - VCS Swiss Traffic Club
- Institute for Ecological Urban Development (Vienna)
- World Carfree Network (English)
- carfree.com , extensive site by J. H. Crawford, author of "Carfree Cities" (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stellwerk 60 ( Memento from May 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ For more information, see also the working group for bicycle-friendly cities and communities in North Rhine-Westphalia , Radverkehr in Münster
- ↑ National (ae): Fast Track to Abu Dhabi's future ( Memento of February 10, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), August 30, 2008
- ↑ Jürg Simonett, Die denied Automobilität: Das Bündner Autoverbot 1900–1925 , in: Rote Revue , Volume 71, 1993, Issue 4; doi : 10.5169 / seals-341019 .
- ↑ atomenergie.ch ( memento of October 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive ): Electricity production in Switzerland, status 2007, accessed on August 21, 2008
- ↑ admin.ch: Popular initiative 'for 12 motor vehicle-free and motor-plane free Sundays per year' , accessed on May 6, 2011
- ^ Admin.ch: People's initiative 'for a car-free Sunday per season - an attempt for four years (Sunday initiative)' , accessed on May 6, 2011
