London To Be Free Of Cars And Vans By 2050

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Rishi Sunak has watered down the government’s green agenda, yet Brits believe London will be the first car and van-free city in the world, according to a major new survey.

On the back of the new survey, an AI artist was specially commissioned to show what London might look like in just over 25 years.

Mayor Sadiq Khan has expanded the capital’s ULEZ zone and has refused to budge on the issue despite residents’ anger – and other UK cities may follow suit and so Brits think the UK will beat the likes of China, the Netherlands and Japan to have the world’s first car and vanless city – as soon as 2050.

People believe cars will be replaced by e-bikes, segways and travelators according to the national survey, while roads will be replaced with more street dining, cycle lanes and greenery.

Net Zero still on

Prime Minister Sunak has pushed back a series of green policies claiming that hard-up voters cannot afford them in the cost-of-living crisis but he insist he is standing by a legally binding goal of hitting net zero targets by 2050.

Swapfiets

Bike subscription service Swapfiets asked 2,000 Brits where and when they think the world’s first car-less city will be and importantly, how they think it would look in their minds’ eyes – it seems the city of the future would have a positive impact on the environment, massively decreasing CO₂ emissions.

Brits think car-less cities will be much more liveable when asked how they think they will look. There will be less roads but more green spaces and trees (41%), more cycling and pedestrianised zones (40%) and lots more street dining (24%). Brits would also expect to see new landmarks, more commemorative statues and more sporting facilities.

As big as buses

If all 2.6 million registered cars in London were swapped for a Swapfiets bike, 1.5 million tonnes of CO₂ could be avoided each year. That’s the equivalent of 125,000 double-decker London buses, 110,000 Big Ben bells, over 700 London Eye’s and almost 3.3 billion pints of beer.

Picture: London imagined without cars or vans.

www.swapfiets.co.uk

Article written by Cathryn Ellis
12th October 2023

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