Discuss the impact of the automobile’s rise on urban form during the twentieth century and critically evaluate planning measures used to limit the negative social and environmental aspects Since the rise of the automobile, there have been many dramatic changes to urban form in attempts to accommodate this new mode of transport. Focusing on America and Britain, this discussion considers influences on all scales ranging from reclassification of physical roads to the decentralization of urban cores. The rising social and environmental concerns caused by the increase in vehicle usage include pedestrian safety, residential livability, and environmental deterioration. I have decided to explore this question by …show more content…

Furthermore, freedoms from congestion within cities allow vehicles to travel at greater speeds; together with commuters driving long distances, the potential for motorist accidents is greater. In reality, the response to the automobile’s rise has proven to create additional social consequences by creating a zone that would likely lead to greater road risks (see figure 3).

Figure 2. M25 (Highways Agency,2011)
Figure 3. Beltway, Washington DC (The Washington Examiner, 2011)
Figure 3. Beltway, Washington DC (The Washington Examiner, 2011)

Although the transfer of traffic to motorways would presumably limit pollution emitted from vehicles in cities, in actuality the gas emissions are being transferred into rural areas and does not limit atmospheric pollution altogether. Infrastructures accommodating long-distance routes promote vehicle usage because destinations “were now accessible by this massive, quick-moving highway” (Washingtonian, 2014). In the long run, with road transport accounting for nearly 25% of global anthropogenic carbon dioxide emission (Carbon in Motion 2050, 2010), it can be argued that the provision of new road infrastructures including motorways has contributed to atmospheric pollution greatly. In addition, the motorways have also blamed for affecting human health in local areas; a study has linked