Bremen, Germany
One of the first cities to study carfree living was Bremen. In 1992, they performed a study, “Living without cars". Six families refrained from car use for 4 weeks in 1992. The results:
Since the results were so encouraging, Bremen decided to support car-free living through the institutional framework of a car-free housing development. They planed the Hollerland project:
- Change of transport mode affected other behavioral patterns (e.g. smaller shopping trips instead of larger, less frequent trips)
- Lack of car lead to replacement activities, such as biking in the countryside instead of driving in the countryside
- Did not view extra time spent traveling as waste of time
- Increased social interaction
- More sensory experiences
- None felt restricted mobility
- Five of the six got rid of their cars after the experiment was over
Bremen – Hollerland project
Sources:
- Suburban car-free development
- Planned to be 220 units, mostly owner-occupied
- Only 30 parking spaces
- Save 20% of the space and 3-10% of the cost by reduced parking
- To get around minimum parking requirements, tenants must sign a life-long contract with a commitment of not to buy a car
- Built 22 units in 1995
- Demand was modest due to economic situation and the life-long commitment of not owning a car
- Project collapsed in 1996
- New inner city project, Grunenstrasse, with 25 car-free units was more successful but less publicized
- Thomas Kramer-Badoni, "Life without the car: am experiment and a plan", International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 1994
- Bremen: Urban district planning without cars
