Challenging the car’s dominance to bring life back to residential streets and support high streets and town centres

All over the world communities are grappling with the impact of motor traffic. For more than 100 years cities, towns and villages across the globe have been in retreat as the imperative to enable journeys by motor vehicle has dominated transport and urban planning. The needs of local people and communities have been subordinated to the convenience of those travelling by private motor vehicle, whether within or through an area. Recently, however, communities have been pushing back. The COVID-19 pandemic brought things to a head, making people aware of the huge difference it can make to life in an urban setting when a fair balance exists between the needs of those who live in a place and those who drive through. Here, we look at examples of this pushback in the United Kingdom and London in particular, where the number of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) has expanded rapidly in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdowns.