The number of cars in the UK has doubled in the last 30 years, and cars kill five people a day, seriously injure 30,000 and are the main cause of death by air pollution.
Cars cost the NHS billions, yet remain heavily subsidised by government. If anything else caused such death and destruction there would be public outcry, but conversely if councils and communities do try to reclaim space from traffic they themselves become the victims of a furious backlash that can be almost impossible to withstand.
This talk will explore the political history of how cars came to dominate in the UK, and how political choices can still be made to reclaim our urban spaces for people and communities. The profound damage to our health, the environment and the economy will be demonstrated, and comparisons will be made with countries that have successfully organised themselves away from being dominated by traffic (The Netherlands, Denmark, Paris etc).