TY  - JOUR
A1  - Selzer, Sina
T1  - Car-reduced neighborhoods as blueprints for the transition toward an environmentally friendly urban transport system? A comparison of narratives and mobility-related practices in two case studies
T2  - Journal of transport geography
N2  - Highlights
• Compares narratives and mobility-related practices of car-reduced neighborhoods.
• Identifies commonalities and differences between the ideal vision and the lived practice of car independency.
• The article concludes that a 'post-car system' requires continuous material and immaterial change.
• This can be fostered by political and planning readiness, as well as local willingness and public acceptability.
• Overall, this study reveals the exemplary role of car-reduced neighborhoods for mobility transition.
Abstract
In the pursuit of sustainability, the concept of ‘car-reduced neighborhoods’ promises to decrease car ownership and increase car-independent mobility. However, mobility is not only designed from ‘above’ by planners and policymakers, but also shaped from ‘below’ by its practitioners and their contexts. Only a few studies currently bring together the perspective from ‘above’ and ‘below’ regarding car-reduced neighborhoods. This article therefore combines both perspectives by contrasting the narratives and the mobility-related practices of two German car-reduced urban residential areas. Firstly, we conduct interviews with various actors involved in the planning and implementation of both neighborhoods to identify the narratives. Secondly, we interview the residents to determine the mobility-related practices. Finally, we compare both empirical investigations to analyze the commonalities and differences of the ‘planning vision’ and the ‘lived practice’ of car-free living, car-independent mobility, and restrictive car parking. Although this study identifies differences between the two perspectives, the discrepancy is smaller than evaluated in earlier studies. After relocating to a car-reduced neighborhood, residents tend to maintain, strengthen, and adapt car-independent mobility practices rather than weakening car-independent mobility practices and maintaining car-dependent ones. Thus, residents seem to be encouraged to drive less and to leave their cars parked for most of the time. However, relocating to a car-reduced neighborhood does not automatically initiate full demotorization. Furthermore, residents' parking practices also sometimes deviate from the planning vision. Consequently, the article concludes that overcoming the ‘system’ of automobility for a ‘post-car system’ requires continuous (i) material and (ii) immaterial change fostered by political and planning readiness, as well as local willingness and public acceptability. In this regard, car-reduced neighborhoods can be seen as blueprints for a mobility transition.
KW  - Car-reduced neighborhood
KW  - Car ownership
KW  - Travel behavior
KW  - Mobility transition
KW  - Residential relocation
KW  - Parking
Y1  - 2021
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/77933
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-779330
SN  - 0966-6923
VL  - 96
IS  - 103126
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  -