Urban Transformation

These are the cities where the fewest people drive to work

Lines of cars are pictured during a rush hour traffic jam in central Shanghai. REUTERS/Aly Song

Shanghai plans to expand its metro system significantly by 2030. Image: REUTERS/Aly Song

Bilal Pervez
Writer, Forum Agenda
Share:
Our Impact
What's the World Economic Forum doing to accelerate action on Urban Transformation?
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Infrastructure is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:

Infrastructure

Nearly 90% of Hong Kong’s residents commute without using a car, while more than 80% of Parisians travel to work on foot, by bike or using public transport, according to research outlined in JLL’s Benchmarking the Future of World Cities report.

But rapid urbanisation is putting significant strain on infrastructure – affecting both public transport and private car users.

To address the problem, cities – and innovators – are building effective and forward-facing public transport systems. For example, Shanghai has built 21 subway lines, London opened its East-West and North-South cycle ‘superhighways’, and Elon Musk has pioneered a ground-breaking Hyperloop.

Cities where the fewest people drive to work
Image: Toronto Region Board of Trade, 2015

Commuting without cars

Paris, ranked second, has a consistently highly ranked transport system, while Shanghai, in third, already has an extensive subway system, with further expansion planned by 2030.

Seven of the top 10 cities on the list are Western European. The JLL report highlights the strength of public transport systems in not only these major European cities, but also medium-sized ones. “Their size and relative compactness makes systems manageable, affordable and comfortable,” write the report’s authors.

Cities without cars

Environmental concerns, including both short-term smog and pollution, and the longer-term contribution of car emissions to climate change, are driving change.

Oslo announced plans last year to ban all vehicles from its center within the next few years. Meanwhile, Paris has already held car-free days, with further initiatives announced this year. Designated routes will be car-free on Sundays and public holidays, while other routes will see cars banned entirely.

  Pedestrianization in Paris
Image: BBC

By 2020, only cars made in or before 2011 will be allowed in the city.

But ending our love affair with cars won’t be easy. An Australian study showed that “commuters are unlikely to sacrifice the comfort of the private car for a minor time saving”. To encourage more people to use public transport, we’ll need to break this emotional attachment to the car, argues the author. At the same time, breakthroughs in electric car technology also offer hope for cleaner commutes.

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Share:
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

Making deliveries more sustainable: 3 lessons to inspire cities in the Global South

Marcela Guerrero Casas and Louise Naudé

October 7, 2024

1:58

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum