Will self-driving cars transform cities?

Tanvi Maheshwari, an architect and urban designer at the Future Cities Lab - part of the Singapore-ETH Centre - has been working on a simulation to understand how best to incorporate autonomous vehicles (AVs) into the larger urban mobility strategy.

Listen to Episode 4 on Soundcloud: Will Autonomous Vehicles Transform Cities?

Visions of AVs have been around for some time. Images of families eating or sleeping in cars propelled automatically were part of the techno-​utopian visions of the 1950s, at least in the United States. Today, autonomous vehicles are poised to become a reality, with technology companies such as Google, and ride-​sharing companies like Uber experimenting with autonomous vehicles on existing roads.

Working with traffic modelling software and based on urban design concepts, she argues that AVs can help in creating a more people-​friendly urban environment. However, even with the technology already in testing and even rollout phase, the future of urban mobility remains up for grabs.

Cities have a big role to play to make sure we do not end up replicating the mistakes made when the automobile first transformed the way cities were built. This time, cities need to take a more holistic approach.
Singapore, with its forward-​looking planning, may be uniquely poised to do just that.