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Australia’s population is spread far and wide, and many Australians rely on their cars to get around, but one research thinks it robs our children’s independence.
More than half of Australian households have at least two cars in the driveway, while only 7 per cent have none, but University of South Australia urban planning researcher Hulya Gilbert believes we need to stop designing cities around the car.
Although the car is a symbol of free movement, Ms Gilbert questions the cost it has on our freedom.
“There’s obviously the environmental impacts, and the health and fitness consequences of using cars, but there’s also a huge social impact,” she said.
“Despite the common view across the world that cars provide freedom and flexibility, increasingly we’re seeing the priority given to cars is infringing people’s ability — and right — to get around without one.”
She points towards teenagers and children who cannot drive cars. With cities built around cars, she believes kids and teenagers are “robbed” of the opportunity to enjoy independence and develop self-reliance.
The assumption that most people travel by car dominates the current transport discussion, Ms Gilbert’s research found. As a result, the car dictates the location of schools and sporting clubs in a community.
“It’s not enough just to say ‘kids need to walk to school more’,” Ms Gilbert said.
“In many situations, we have planned that possibility out of cities, and now it’s just not safe or practical for children to ride or walk to the places they need to go — so much so that there are now perceptions that parents who do let their kids ride or walk are being negligent.”
Changes need to be made to infrastructure to reverse this trend, she said.
“That involves building and maintaining safe walking and cycling paths and associated infrastructure including green spaces, trees and pedestrian crossings, and reducing speed limits and traffic flow around those areas to ensure they’re safe,” Ms Gilbert said.
“It also means ensuring public transport is connected to those active transport networks, and that key locations, such as schools and sports clubs, are located so they’re accessible by those modes.
“At the moment, our cities and societies are set up based on the idea that having a licence and owning a car is the norm, and we often consider the lack of car ownership as a disadvantage. Our right to move around our cities without a car is not commonly considered.
“Now, even though it’s the case that most people have access to a car and travel by car in cities such as Adelaide, planning and thinking as if they don’t would open up many possibilities and opportunities which would accelerate progress towards less private car usage and the associated, wide-ranging benefits.”
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