Abstract Manager

How do we create places where walking, cycling, and transit are great options, while still meeting the needs of cars? Cars play a critical role in the economy, and it is important to find ways to address their needs. It is understandable that many cities respond by widening roads and building parking lots. When these investments are made in the wrong places, however, they can deaden street life, dissuade investment, and sap communities of vitality.

In national planning, architecture, and engineering standards, there is no clear distinction between car-centred and people-centred design — that is, between approaches to community design that prioritize cars above all other modes, versus approaches that prioritize pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders. Many common challenges result from this ambiguity, such as using traffic level-of-service to design urban streets. 

This presentation, based on a new whitepaper written by Happy Cities and Mobycon, identifies solutions to help municipal staff, elected officials, professionals, and citizens meet the needs of cars without undermining their other aspirations — to build healthy, thriving, liveable communities.
•    Understanding the distinction between car-centred and people-centred places
•    How each place type uniquely contributes to economic development
•    How to design appropriate streets and transportation networks to support each place type 
•    How to work with architects and planners to maximize the effectiveness of people-centred places
•    Examples of how Canadian and US cities are applying this distinction