Conclusion
This paper has laid out some recommendations to encourage citizens to leave their cars and utilise public transport. The private car is at the heart of the many problems that urban areas face today and it is important that the abolition of the idea of owning a car be considered. However, it is neither possible nor desirable to compulsorily make people give up cars- or the idea of buying a car. Indeed, outside large cities, the use of a car may still be very relevant and desirable-and within a city, some people will always want to drive their own cars. However, it is suggested that if cities are planned as ecosystems built around the notion of public transport, walking and cycling, the inclination of citizens to prefer their own cars will progressively decline. This will, however, require not only planning and technology-but persuasion through a mix of advertising, smart marketing, financial incentives and change in social behaviour. How long this will take to be effective, if at all, is open to question. Therefore, it is desirable that some prescriptive policies be put into place. The reduction in parking space could be one such policy; while it might be initially unpopular among some citizens, it is imperative that it's benefits be communicated in a desirable manner to all citizens. Here, one must keep in mind that it is virtually impossible in most societies today to carry out prescriptive policies without obtaining some kind of support or consent from citizens and their representatives. If people refuse or are unable to participate in the functioning of these policies, then the policies will fail-for, these can only succeed when people respond appropriately. To re-orient and re-order a city is to re-orient and re-order the society that lives in it, drives it and indeed makes it what it is. This is no easy task-yet, it is necessary when one thinks about the larger sustainability war. The answer to the private vehicle challenge, therefore, lies in combining technological progress with a deep understanding of human ecology, the cultural landscape and the political economy of the city. If this calls for a radical re-ordering of human life, then that must be considered seriously, albeit in a participatory and beneficial manner.
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