Future Transport in Cities by Brian Richards

From the Publisher

Cities around the world are being wrecked by the ever-increasing burden of traffic. A significant part of the problem is the enduring popularity of the private car - still an attractive and convenient option to many, who turn a blind eye to the environmental and public health impact. Public transport has always seemed to take second place to the car, and yet alternative ways of moving around cities are possible. Measures to improve public transport, as well as initiatives to encourage walking and cycling, have been introduced in many large cities to decrease car use, or at least persuade people to use their cars in different ways.
This book explores many of the measures being tried. It takes the best examples from around the world, and illustrates the work of those architects and urban planners who have produced some of the most significant models of transport architecture and city planning. The book examines the ways in which new systems are evolving, and how these are being integrated into the urban environment. It suggests a future where it could be mandatory to provide systems of horizontal movement within large-scale development, using the analogy of the lift, upon which every high-rise building depends. In so doing, future cities could evolve without dependence on the private car.

David Banister

...it presents some of the best examples of integrating high quality transport with urban form through design...The examples are eclectic, but the general message is positive and optimistic...

Terence Bendixson

Richards offers a vision of walkable places where the good service of elegantly designed, shared vehicles lures people from their private machines.

Alastair Best

This is not a polemic: we have enough of those already. It is something more valuable — an anthology of case histories...read this stimulating, judicious and surprisingly optimistic book.

LA Architect Magazine

It's a brilliant analysis of how things work in the real world and the promise of new technologies.

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents