Urban Mobility as a System: From Car-Centric to Human-Centered Cities
This article critiques car-centric urban planning, arguing for a systemic shift to human-centered cities. It advocates for integrated mobility networks that prioritize public transit, walking and cycling, reclaiming public space for people over vehicles.
Amid the traffic-clogged arteries of Los Angeles, where cars have long ruled the streets, the future of urban mobility is being questioned. The reorientation focuses not on simply removing cars or introducing new technology, but on envisioning the city as an integrated system in which people, places, and vehicles coexist in balance. Automobiles are no longer the unquestioned centerpiece of urban life; instead, they are treated as one component of a broader, multimodal transportation network. Design now seeks to prioritize human needs and experiences over vehicular dominance.
This shift toward systemic thinking marks a turning point in urban planning since the advent of the automobile itself. For over a century, cities bent their form to accommodate vehicles - building freeways that sliced through neighborhoods and streets that privileged traffic over tree canopy and walkability. Julia de Bono of BMW DesignWorks describes this as "local culture obliterated by inappropriately dominant infrastructures, harming people and place for the sake of somewhere else." Today, the goal is to reverse that legacy, realigning mobility to serve human well-being, environmental quality, and social equity.
Behavior reflects the transformation. Micromobility has surged as consumers embrace alternatives when given real choice - in the U.S., e-bike sales grew 190%, bicycle sales 120%, and e-scooter sales 61%. DesignWorks' community research in Los Angeles shows how mobility systems can respond to "what works for a human in this time and age," not simply what works for vehicles.
