London, Paris, NYC: people, parks, and parking
Focusing on Paris, London, and New York City, our report with the Active Travel Academy looks at how much land could be freed up if we didn’t need to make space for so many private cars - which sit unused for 95% of the time anyway. Here’s what we found:
Paris, London and New York City all allocate less than a fifth of their land area to public green space.
If all disabled people gain or retain a private car whilst all non-disabled people stop owning a private car, the number of private cars owned overall would fall by about half.
This percentage would be much higher - about 80% - if only those disabled people who already own cars continue to do so, and those who don’t already own a car don’t gain one.
About half of all households in these metropolitan areas are already car-free, yet each city has about 2-3 million cars they need to make space for.
Many residents who own a car still use other types of transport frequently, especially for commuting.
By getting 42-58% of cars off our streets, green space could increase by 10%. This is about the same amount of green space as the size of:
Four new Central Parks in New York.
The London Borough of Islington, or three of the city’s largest parks combined.
Three Bois de Vincennes in Greater Paris.
However, rather than creating a few new large parks, we could ensure people have fairer access to green space by redesigning parking spaces that already exist; turning parking spaces into parklets!
What you can do
Find the perfect spot for a parklet using our Parklet Plotter. We’ve designed a nifty interactive map - our Parklet Plotter - to help people learn more about the areas they live in. Find which communities have the least access to green space to how different areas measure up against social deprivation. Where do you think parklets could be installed to best help improve access to green space and give streets back to the community?
Ask your council to create a simple process which allows local communities and residents to come together and create parklets. Use our webtool to email your council about parklets.
Get involved with our parklets campaign.