This page has only limited features, please log in for full access.
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are expected to flood urban roads in the next future. Despite the optimism of the automotive industry and technology enthusiasts, AVs may have undesired impacts on urban liveability, especially if their diffusion is let to the market and not governed by public administrations. The door-to-door service they could provide and wider access to individual car trips can lead to an increase of short intra-urban car trips, to the detriment of public transport and active mobility. With few exceptions, the attitude of local authorities is dominated by a laissez-faire approach. The difficulty of dealing with high degrees of uncertainty and the absence of clear ideas on desirable visions are among the main reasons for this policy inaction. As a result of a collaborative backcasting process, this paper presents a vision to 2050, grounded on the extensive application of the superblock model, and the policy pathway to steer the transition to autonomous driving towards liveability and sustainability of the city. Governing the transition to AVs towards a desired vision is a complex process, that requires immediate action, farsighted planning and the cooperation of various sectors.
Elisabetta Vitale Brovarone; Jacopo Scudellari; Luca Staricco. Planning the transition to autonomous driving: A policy pathway towards urban liveability. Cities 2020, 108, 102996 .
AMA StyleElisabetta Vitale Brovarone, Jacopo Scudellari, Luca Staricco. Planning the transition to autonomous driving: A policy pathway towards urban liveability. Cities. 2020; 108 ():102996.
Chicago/Turabian StyleElisabetta Vitale Brovarone; Jacopo Scudellari; Luca Staricco. 2020. "Planning the transition to autonomous driving: A policy pathway towards urban liveability." Cities 108, no. : 102996.
There is great uncertainty about the transition from human to autonomous driving vehicles (AVs), as well as about the extent and direction of their potential impacts on the urban built environment. Planners are aware of the importance of leading this transition but are hesitant about how to proceed, and public administrations generally show a passive attitude. One of the reasons is the difficulty of defining long-term visions and identifying transition paths to achieve the desired future. The literature on AVs is growing rapidly but most of the visions proposed so far do not consider in detail how circulation and parking of AVs will (or could) be differently regulated in cities. In this study, three visions for the Italian city of Turin are proposed. The aim of these visions is to highlight how different forms of regulation of AV circulation and parking can impact on the sustainability and livability of the city. A focus group and a set of interviews with experts and stakeholders were used to validate the three visions and assess their advisability and sustainability. This visioning exercise is the first step in the development of a backcasting process.
Luca Staricco; Valentina Rappazzo; Jacopo Scudellari; Elisabetta Vitale Brovarone. Toward Policies to Manage the Impacts of Autonomous Vehicles on the City: A Visioning Exercise. Sustainability 2019, 11, 5222 .
AMA StyleLuca Staricco, Valentina Rappazzo, Jacopo Scudellari, Elisabetta Vitale Brovarone. Toward Policies to Manage the Impacts of Autonomous Vehicles on the City: A Visioning Exercise. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (19):5222.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLuca Staricco; Valentina Rappazzo; Jacopo Scudellari; Elisabetta Vitale Brovarone. 2019. "Toward Policies to Manage the Impacts of Autonomous Vehicles on the City: A Visioning Exercise." Sustainability 11, no. 19: 5222.