Better Towns with Less Traffic

Abstract

The automobile, invented in the last century more or less as a toy or a sports facility to serve a minority of people who believed in economic and technical progress, met with hesitation and even opposition on the part of the wider public, because of its adverse effects on the existing environment. As the advantages of this new means of transport became more and more evident, most of the objections faded away. An object originally designed for pleasure and prestige has managed to become so widespread in the course of a few decades — in our Western society, at least — that it has completely changed our life style, the form of our environment and even some objectives of the entire economy. This development took place with very little serious consideration of the negative impacts associated with the automobile.