Instead of stones there is grass, instead of cars there is a swing, instead of parking spaces in front of the door, the houses here have a playing field in their front garden. The two rows of new-build homes in Park van Buijsen, Pijnacker, are connected to the green ‘wadi’, a natural underground water storage area. The first daisies emerge on this early spring day.
No gaze in front of the door, no gray parking spaces, but living next to a play park. “Yes, it is nice here,” says resident Gigi Halley (36), who has lived in this car-free street for two years now. “When the weather is nice, neighbors sit in their front yards chatting with each other while the children play.” She is not really bothered by the fact that she cannot park in front of the door: “Then you walk around, the car is just parked at the back.” Emergency services can get there; Hidden under the grass is an emergency lane.
This is clearly a pleasant street, as can be seen on this spring day. Much research also points to various benefits of streets like this. They have measurably more interaction between residents and increase the value of homes, there is more biodiversity, they are more resistant to extreme rainfall and drought due to the water storage in wadis, it gets less hot in the summer, they have beneficial effects on mental health of residents.
Nanda Sluijsmans, involved in this project as an urban planner: “In the end, even the long-term maintenance is probably cheaper, partly because the soil is healthier. This means there is less subsidence and pipes therefore remain good for longer.”
Pijnacker is certainly no longer unique. Something similar is happening in Utrecht, Amersfoort, Amsterdam, Zeist and many more Dutch cities. From ‘living streets’ where cars are banned and parking is centered in the neighbourhood, to completely car-free neighbourhoods, to neighborhoods with ‘mobility hubs’ where residents find shared cars, public transport and parcel services so that the streets can be made car-free.
But really getting the car out of the neighborhood is easier said than done, as is also evident in Pijnacker. “For me it is very inconvenient,” says parcel deliverer Ahmed Hamed (33). “I have to park around the corner, walk back and forth with heavy packages, and often have to bring packages here with a hand truck.”
As soon as you turn the corner, it is visible that here in Pijnacker the cars have not disappeared but have mainly been moved: the residents of Park van Buijsen park around the corner. Resident Gigi Halley’s family has two cars there. (“We are thinking about getting rid of one.”) The parking standard, the number of parking spaces per house, is also old-fashioned high here: 1.7 to 2 spaces per household.
Traveling in your own troop
This is a problem with more car-free projects, says Niels van Oort, researcher in shared mobility at TU Delft. “The car is indispensable for many people: ideal, traveling in front of your own door, in your own time, and in your own group.”
For many residents it is not so easy to exchange the car for an alternative: people who have difficulty walking, people who have to go to work outside public transport times, families with young children who are required to use child seats, who do not fit in a shared car. . While: a single shared car can replace three to eleven private cars, says Van Oort.
Making neighborhoods car-free depends on a number of crucial factors, according to various studies. Firstly, there must be good alternatives to the car, and those alternatives must be tailored to the needs of the residents. Depending on the population composition, residents have very different needs: in one neighborhood shared cargo bikes work, in another perhaps volunteer driver services for the elderly. Sometimes streets can become completely car-free, sometimes car-free is the highest achievable. This requires continuous customization. Good public transport is crucial, he says. The persistent problems with the railways therefore certainly do not help.
Secondly, parking standards must ultimately be lowered to give people a strong incentive to use their cars differently. But that is only possible, that is point three, if residents themselves are closely involved in plans for the transition. Nobody wants to have that imposed on them. Fourth: the spatial layout also needs to be adjusted. People only get out of their cars if they really get a greener living environment in return.
“It is happening in small steps,” says urban planner Nanda Sluijsmans. Ultimately, parking standards will also have to be lowered to create truly green neighborhoods, but things often go wrong when municipalities and city planners immediately focus on that. “Then people resist because they feel you are taking something away from them. If you immediately broaden the discussion beyond just parking, fewer problems will arise.”
Grumbling parcel deliverers
By talking to residents about what they actually want in a street, and showing the major benefits of greener streets, you ensure support, according to Sluijsmans. And those grumbling parcel deliverers? “The honest story is that you do indeed have to make trade-offs. If you choose a green street, you do not choose a street where delivery people can easily reach.” According to her, this is not very different from apartment complexes and residential towers: delivery people do not easily come to the door there. “Ultimately, hubs with parcel lockers can solve that.”
Wout van Alphen, the project leader of Park van Buijsen at the municipality of Pijnacker-Nootdorp, also insists on “an integrated view”. So don’t just look at parking spaces, but at the range of benefits that residents receive in return. He sees that residents are much more flexible than many project developers think. “Residents like it: not all that tin in front of the door.”
These types of projects also show that car-free neighborhoods can work, says Van Alphen: “Project developers did not want to do it for a long time. People want their car in front of the kitchen window, they thought for a long time. That appears not to be the case here. Residents attach great importance to a sustainable, green living environment. You will need less convincing in subsequent projects.”
A new district with even more green streets is now being built in Pijnacker. The parking standard there will also be considerably lower, partly due to the favorable location for public transport. Step by step, a major change can indeed be achieved, he thinks.