A carfree city is a city where automobiles and most motorized vehicles
are excluded, so that residents can conduct most of their everyday
activities without having to be in or around cars. The carfree
city is made up of many districts (neighborhoods) with a central
transit stop that moves you quickly and comfortably to the rest of the
city. Each neighborhood is a large areas (at least 100
acres). The compact, mixed-use development pattern allows
personal mobility within the carfree zone to be achieved by walking or
biking. Parking lots or garages at the edge of the carfree district
provide access to cars when they are the logical choice for certain
trips outside the district. Carfree development is ideally suited to
car-sharing, which further decreases the number of vehicles and parking
spaces needed.
All but the heaviest cargo is transported by human- or electric-powered
means, from stroller carts for groceries to electric flat-bed tow-carts
for commercial freight. A freight depot at the edge of the carfree district
would handle shipping and receiving of freight to and from external
destinations and provide facilities for transferring freight from trucks
to local vehicles.
Excluding cars from the district frees up a large amount of space normally dedicated
to streets and parking, allowing more outdoor space to be used for amenities
such as parks, playing fields, plazas -- even creeks and orchards! Building
location also becomes much more flexible, allowing buildings to be clustered
and arranged in more interesting patterns that include variable street
and passageway widths, odd intersection angles, courtyards, pocket parks,
etc.