The year is 2030. Traffic jams and smog have been banished from city centres and replaced with tree-lined boulevards where commuters walk or cycle to a much greater extent than now; electric bicycles and airport style travelators have become common modes of travel.
It might sound like the setting for a science fiction film, but this is just one scenario outlined by scientists who aim to create urban environments which are safer, more sociable and less environmentally damaging.
The team have produced three 'visions' of future UK cities where up to 80% of all journeys are made by bike or on foot and where cars and lorries are virtually obsolete. Their proposals, published in the Journal of Transport Geography, are illustrated by animations and images of how these cities may look.
Each of the visions presents a scenario where a number of changes have been made to the infrastructure of urban areas. These range from relatively minor adjustments, to major shifts in society and infrastructure that would cut car journeys from around 60% of all trips to just 5%.
Lead author Dr Miles Tight, from the University of Leeds Institute for Transport Studies, said the benefits of such changes would go beyond simply reducing congestion. "Walking and cycling can make a considerable contribution to sustainable transport goals, but getting people out of their cars and onto their feet or a bicycle has the potential to address many other problems which blight urban areas, including road accidents, air and noise pollution, and obesity," he said.
"The kinds of changes we're talking about are not beyond the realms of possibility. Obviously we don't expect people to give up their cars overnight, but we want to show people what cities could look like if walking and cycling played a much larger role and what the implications might be for lifestyle, behaviour and logistics."
"Experience has shown us that simply making small changes like adding a bit of cycle lane here and there is not going to lead to large-scale sustainable change. A real paradigm shift from driving to walking and cycling is going to take government-led intervention on a large scale," added Dr Tight.
The project is a collaboration between the Universities of Leeds, Oxford, East Anglia, Manchester and Salford funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
Images and animations from the Visions project are available on the project website www.visions2030.org.uk
Visions of a 'car-free future' created by Leeds researchers
