You go out of your house. Going to work, off to the store to buy something or simply getting your daily cardio in. You hear the busy streets. Noisy car engines, horns at full blast. A thick layer of smog enveloping the city like a blanket. What do you do? Instead of commuting to work, you take your car and deal with the traffic. You put off going to the store at a later time when it’s not too chaotic outside. You hit the treadmill at your local gym instead of jogging outside to avoid breathing in all that pollution.
You think to yourself this is just the way it is to live in the big city. You moved to the city from your small hometown in search of better opportunities and think this is just a small price to pay for all of that. That might not be the case anymore.
Cities all over the world have been pushing to become car-free. 9 cities spanning from Spain to China have introduced more bike lanes, working on new projects to improve public transport and some even banned cars under certain criteria; older car models, plate number coding system to simply paying more to park your car outside local establishments. All of this is an attempt to reduce emissions for a cleaner environment and to encourage people to become more active and travel by foot which leads to better overall health.
Our love and reliance for cars isn’t going away anytime soon but it is time to think about the future and what it would be like not to have cars as our main mode of transport. These cities have set a precedent that shows us the way to a better and more sustainable future. Hopefully the rest of the world take notice and follow suit.
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This article was featured on: Huffington Post.
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