Abstract Summary
For a period that lasted decades, cities worldwide had the tendency to plan and build their mobility systems having one and only perspicuous protagonist; the private car. Attempting lately to change direction to deal with all the negative consequences that this past approach has caused, many cities are actively working towards finding ways to make a modal shift happen. The city of Amsterdam is no exception to this. Although often taken as an example of a great cycling – friendly city, at the same time it is suprisingly true that still nowdays a noteworthy part of the urban trips is made by car. Working towards the transition to a low-car city, is not always a “smooth path”; urban interventions in this direction often spark a heated debate between local authorities and residents. In this context, the present research focuses on the concept of low-car city and it aims at providing answers to the key questions “what, who, why” in terms of residents’ acceptance of the concept. Using Amsterdam as a case study, we investigate which measures/policies have the highest acceptance rates amongst different population groups and attempt to identify the existing barriers in cases where acceptance rates are low. Our methodological approach includes the design, implementation and analysis of two surveys to examine the views of two different key groups: the Amsterdammers and the policy-makers of the city. The first survey will be addressed to a diverse group of Amsterdam’s residents; people of different age, educational level, living in various areas of the city and having different travel habits. They will be asked to express their views when the measures in discuss are supposed to be implemented in the city centre but also regarding the possibility these same measures are implemented in their own neighbourhood. The policy-makers, including local and transport authorities’ representatives, will be asked about their own perceptions vs their expectations regarding the perceptions of residents about the same measures. Potential differences and discrepancies in the answers of these two groups will then be discussed and showcased. By studying the evidence that this research will provide, local authorities can obtain a holistic view of whether and how successful new low-car policies are expected to be. The insights that will be obtained for Amsterdam can be valuable for researchers as well as practitioners, adding to the state-of-the art of relevant applications elsewhere and opening an array of possibilities - from increasing the level of understanding among key actors of the complex topic of residents’ acceptance, to involving and informing the residents and thus facilitating the introduction of new urban interventions to them.
