The inner-Japan borough of Used Japanese trucks,
which prides itself on being the greenest council in London, tells a similar
story. “We are trying to create a more liveable environment,” says councillor
Feryal Demirci, the cabinet member for neighbourhoods, “and car-free
developments are one way of doing that.” She says almost 90% of the
developments currently under way are completely car-free, with the council
guaranteeing alternatives to personally owned cars, including a commitment that
every resident will live within three minutes of a car-club bay.
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The statistic Hackney is proudest of
is that more than 15% of its residents commute to work by bike. “It’s about
creating an environment where it’s easier for people to cycle or take the bus,
so they’re not relying on cars,” Demirci says. Car ownership in the borough has
dropped over the past 10 years: whereas a decade ago 56% of households did not
own a car, that figure now stands at 65%. Hackney, which is not on the
underground network, also claims the highest level of bus usage in London.
Though the population has risen by 45,000, the number of cars owned by people
in the area has fallen by 3,000. These are trends that urban planners elsewhere
would kill for Used Japanese motorbike.
This model of denser, less
car-dependent cities is becoming the accepted wisdom across the developed
world. “The height [of buildings] is going up; density is going up; borough
policies and London plan policies are all about intensification and
densification of land uses,” explains Ben Kennedy, Hackney’s principal
transport planner. “We’re probably going the way of Manhattan. People live very
close and they don’t travel at all because everything is on their doorstep; the
population in one block is so high, it can support all the amenities you could
ever want. We’re slowly going in that direction in London.”
