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Cars out, people in

billanole

HR Legend
Mar 5, 2005
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The explanation for Pontevedra's track record is simple: It banned cars from most of the cityin 1999.

"We decided to redesign the city for people instead of cars and we've been reaping the rewards ever since," said Pontevedra's mayor Miguel Anxo Fernández Lores, who came into office with plans for a car-free city more than 20 years ago.

"Not only have we not had a single road-related death in over a decade, but air pollution has been reduced by 67 percent and our overall quality of life in the city has dramatically improved," he said. Some 15,000 people have moved to the city since it became car-free, he added.

As cities look to meet ambitious climate goals, many are considering or already implementing measures to kick out cars as a way both to cut down on emissions and to protect residents from pollution.

During the pandemic, cities like London, Paris and Brussels built new bike path networks and made more space for pedestrians. Between 2019 and 2022, the number of low-emissions zones — limiting access to certain types of polluting traffic — in European cities increased by 40 percent, according to the Clean Cities Campaign. And in 2020, over 960 EU cities participated in International Car-Free Day, with dozens later instituting policies banning cars from city centers once a month.


While cars could still access the center to make drop-offs or pickups, they were subject to a 30-kilometer-per-hour speed limit and caps on the amount of time they could remain stationary.

It took time to get locals on board, the mayor recalled. "It's normal to fear changes, especially during the first two years of a project, when the transformation is still underway and people can't fully see the final benefits."

The local business community in particular was divided over the scheme, with some fearing that blocking access for cars would discourage customers from shopping in the city.

"Some people got it immediately: I had a bookseller tell me he backed pedestrianization because in all his years in business he had never had a car come into his shop to buy a book," the mayor said, laughing. "But to get something like this done you have to talk to everyone, listen to their concerns and work at explaining the positives."

Fernández Lores said he took to invoking the figure of billionaire Amancio Ortega, the Galician owner of the Zara clothing chain, a revered figure in the region.

"I pointed out that Zara stores are usually found on pedestrianized shopping streets, not four-lane ring roads," he said. "I think many naysayers reconsidered their position when I asked them if they thought they knew more about business than Amancio Ortega."
 
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