carfreelondon 1998
carfreelondon was a competition run by the Architecture Association, Pedestrians Association and Cycling Association in 1998. It was conceived and funded by Maurice Bennett. You can find the winning entry here.
LondonUnlocked.org and A Car Free London are the direct descendants of that campaign, updated for the Web 2.0 generation.
The Economist ran an article on the competition, which you can find here. In addition, Maurice Bennett has kindly written a few words on why he started the competition, which can be found below:
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The idea of a car free London came to me after a visit to Disney Land in 1968. Here was a large space devoted entirely to transport, which was safe, entertaining and a cause of delight to its many visitors.
Over the years when I have discussed my concept I often hear the jibe “Mickey Mouse”, but this is neither original or illuminating and ignores some of the fundamental lessons that can be learned from studying this carefully thought out concept and its much larger brother at Disney World, Florida.
The beauty about a totally car free environment in London is that quite small areas can be selected and various transport systems employed can be thoroughly tested before being used on a wider scale. The two major considerations are ease of movement for pedestrians and equally access for goods and services.
A car free scheme can incorporate any type of transport that’s economic and fun. As an example, cable cars running the length of Oxford Street would provide an entertaining mode of transport, without occupying any of the current road space; it would enhance the values for properties at first floor level because, where practical, passengers could discharge through stores at this level.
Delivery of goods and services would have to made at night, ideally by electric vehicles. All goods would be containerised. Buildings that already had delivery docks could receive goods without any problem; businesses without could have deliveries safely left outside because there would be no security risk.
Apart from the fact that the transport would be far more predictable, one would also create a pollution free and safe environment.
At the moment 83% of all crimes are with the help of a motor vehicle or against the motor vehicle. This alone would create a startling improvement and also a substantial reduction in the risk of terrorism.
A plan to cover the most congested area of the West End could be up and running within five years. London lends itself to an imaginative theme because we already have the river running east to west and vastly under-utilised, as well as canals, underground system, etc. In recent times, when streets have been temporary closed to traffic, i.e., for the circus in Piccadilly and Trafalgar Square, and Regent Street, it was to the great joy of people spilling out into the extra space that had been created, although sadly these events have not been maintained for more than a few days.
Maurice Bennett, London, November 2007