In Chicago’s Martin Luther King Drive, a rendering created by The Driverless City Project and Illinois Institute of Technology, the traditional asphalt layout of the roads is instead replaced by “thin strands of porous paved surface that would break down the traditional barrier between the sidewalk and the street.” This is just a single example of the visions many architects and urban designers have of shaping a bold new city planning idea to prepare for the future of self-driving cars. In their eyes, self-driving cars are not simply new transportation technology, but a complete revolution that would free vast areas of cities which had the sole purpose of supporting the auto age.
These designers and architects believe that if self-driving vehicles become prominent soon, there would be a significant decrease in vehicles on roads, allowing for the associated infrastructure to be reevaluated to accommodate other essential parts of the city. Specifically, parking garages can be transformed into stores and apartments, offering a much more beneficial impact on the city. Although some parking garages would still be needed to provide the self-driving vehicles storage, they would need much less space as these self-driving vehicles will be able to navigate smaller spaces better than humans much more reliably.
One of the most important aspect of the self-driving technology is that it would provide the elderly, the disabled, and even minors more efficient ways to get around. Many believe that self-driving technology will lead to the formation of a utopian society, but society must advance more before adopting such ideas.
On the other hand, this technology can lead to more issues than actual aid. If self-driving cars dramatically lower costs of maintaining an infrastructure for vehicles and give people reasons to actually be part of this drastic change, the roads would not be able to hold all of these people. Instead of living in a major city due to work reasons, many people would migrate to suburban areas because these self-driving cars will allow for a much quicker commute time and effectively spread the population in a large area to less developed areas. Builders will be much more profitable as more people move out of the city and look to the distant exurbs as homes.
Although there are pros and cons of the revolutionary self-driving technology, one must understand the facts regarding self-driving vehicles. Over 40,200 people were killed in motor vehicle deaths, a statistic that the autonomous driving industry promises to make miniscule compared to what it is now. Competition amongst large motor vehicle corporations will push for increased safety and the regulations for this booming industry will be extremely strict. Compared to previous generations, millennials believe that vehicles are economic “weights” that mostly give a person difficulties.
Another form of transportation that is geared to the youth of today is “car-sharing,” a service in which you would be able to share the costs of traveling with another rider. Major corporations such as Lyft is looking to take advantage of this and focus its attention on this growing market.
In a book by Marshall Brown and several associates, named “The Driverless City,” the future is envisioned as how “driverless cars might break down traditional barriers between street and sidewalk, nature and technology.” Perhaps there would be a greater emphasis on areas that are correlated to the self-driving technology, such as pick-up/drop-off points.
Looking at both sides of the argument, people must understand that the choice of how they live is and will always be theirs. Although technology is advancing rapidly, it will not shape us: We will choose how technology is developed and how we live.
Featured Image via Pixabay
