In 1999, Pontevedra 'was a continuous traffic jam, and downright hellish' But after a new mayor implemented a radical idea — dramatically restricting auto access — the pedestrian-filled city center is filled with music and the sounds of children playing.
A couple walks through a car-free square last week in Pontevedra, Spain.
Between 80,000 and 150,000 vehicles entered the 1.8-square-mile city center each day, resulting in traffic density triple that of Madrid, Spain’s largest city, even though its population is roughly only a 40th of the size. As cars ate up more space, bad air and nonstop honking pushed citizens from the shrinking public squares, and drug addicts moved into them, Daniel Macenlle, the city’s director general of Citizen Protection, told Yahoo News.
As the car-reduction plan was being crafted in Pontevedra, council members, business leaders and the public debated the contentious question of how exactly much the city could restrict traffic without killing off its downtown economy. “Cities are not [supposed to be] car warehouses. Cities are spaces for people to live together, and that is the absolute priority,” Lores told Yahoo News, adding, “Some traffic is necessary for the city to function. What is not desirable is having cars circulating in the city without need.”
On a sunny terrace where locals sat eating calamari and bacalao, Panama-born Michele Cingolana, who owns two restaurants in Pontevedra, extolled the benefits of life there. “I sold my car,” he said. “I don’t need it here. I can get everywhere on foot.” He’s one of the 15,000 people who have moved to the city since what Macenlle callsmeasures were initiated in 1999.
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