Coined by Peter Newman and Jeff Kenworthy, automobile dependence is a termed used to describe the changing urban environment to accommodate the automobile. The phenomenon can be observed in many cities which show varying degrees of automobile dependence but is more notable in the U.S.A, Canada, Australia, and to a lesser extent in large cities in Europe and Asia. Devotion to the automobile has seen the car population increase ten fold to 600 million. Today, what can be called as the rise of the car culture is increasingly becoming important in growing countries such as China. The car not only provides convenient mobility but represents a sense of freedom and status. But automobile dependency requires high automobile use, automobile oriented land use pattern and limited travel alternatives. So what are the significant economic, social and environmental consequences of this dependency?
The automobile is a resource intensive transport mode increasing expenditures for infrastructure; maintenance costs, traffic management and resources to create standards of urban liveability which are dispersed through the economy. Economic mobility reduces the amount of land available for other uses. Highways can limit accessibility, reducing productivity, increasing travel costs and they may only provide economic benefits in one part of a region at the expense of others.
The social costs of automobile dependency are affecting health. Not only does it encourage a sedentary lifestyle as people are less likely to walk or cycle but intensify epidemics and chronic diseases as traffic can produce stress and expose people to high levels of air and noise pollution. Suburbia destroys community life and character by geographically dividing races and classes. This is accounted by inequitable access to transport, health, education and jobs. Nearly a quarter of the land surface of Earth is cultivated, supporting food production for expanding populations. Food production is now an industrial process, requiring energy in agricultural processes, distribution and packaging. We then drive to supermarkets in our cars to buy our food.
Automobiles produce carbon dioxide, smog, nitric acids and carbon particulates which have pervasive impacts on land use and air quality, including water and soil ecology. Although city density may have lower emissions, the impacts of vehicle type are equally great. The ability to handle environmental impacts vary on the relative wealth of the city, with problems ranging from contaminated water, poor sanitation, air pollution, land pollution by chemicals and solid waste. The removal of ecosystems to accommodate transportation infrastructure may lose or displace significant species and decrease remaining ecosystem resilience by increasing threats like invasive species and habitat loss.
The issues relating to automobile dependency demonstrate an inter-connection between economic, social and environmental impacts. They illustrate the need for balanced and focused land use that provides accessibility without necessitating further dependence on mobility. Sustainability is a vision and process relieving the challenges of automobile dependence. Sustainable transport can guide cities to reduce car use and allow discretionary community choice to reclaim the role of walking, cycling and public transport improving social well being. With the absence of the automobile, a new physical form can take place in the evolution of city design.
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