What city centres would look like if they didn't have any cars

It’s kind of crazy that urban dwellers give up as much space as they do to cars

Traffic jams form on a highway in September 2014 during the first day of school in Istanbul. (Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images) (Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images)

If you’ve ever lived in New York, London, or another major, bustling city, you know that one of the most valuable things in an urban area is space. Suddenly, things that are normal in the suburbs, like having a sofa, or washing your clothes in your own house, become luxuries and status symbols.

So it’s kind of crazy that urban dwellers give up as much space as they do to cars. Having a car in a city takes up a lot more of this rare, expensive space than you might realize.

The image below, which uses photographs from a poster by International Sustainable Solutions taken by OnRequest Images in downtown Seattle, demonstrates that idea. The images show what 200 people look like, first in 177 cars, then without cars, then on three buses, and finally on bikes.

http://99percentinvisible.tumblr.com/post/126104528126/ok-this-kind-of-hits-you-over-the-head-but-wow

This isn’t a new idea. Urbanists have tried to make this argument many times.

150 people in 103 cars or in one bus

View post on imgur.com

As the creator of the original gif points out, these images also help you visualize just how much traffic subway systems are moving underground. Imagine how many more traffic jams our cities would have without them.

Copyright: Washington Post