Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/not-just-bikes-car-free-streets-are-amazing-and-we-need-more-of-them
Autoluw is a Dutch urban planning concept meaning “nearly car-free”. It’s put into use all over the country, and has resulted in some of the greatest urban environments I’ve ever been to.
This video explores the concept of autoluw, and how it is applied to Dutch streets, along with some examples from some foreign cities as well, such as Toronto and Copenhagen. I also talk about what Amsterdam has done to move towards the autoluwe stad, and briefly mention Agenda Amsterdam Autoluw.
There is so much to talk about on this subject! I definitely plan a follow-up video on different aspects of where autoluw principles are applied. If you’re interested in such things, make sure you subscribe!
Sign up to Nebula and watch ad-free and sponsor-free: https://go.nebula.tv/notjustbikes
Patreon: https://patreon.com/notjustbikes
Twitter: https://twitter.com/notjustbikes
Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/notjustbikes
One-time donations: https://notjustbikes.com/donate
NJB Live (my bicycle livestream channel):
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9v57F4xz46KaDsvWfCv8yw
—
Credits:
A view from the cycle path:
http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/2013/02/nearly-car-free-areas.html
Photo of Strøget, Amagertorv by Olga Itenberg
CC BY 2.0
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Str%C3%B8get#/media/File:Str%C3%B8get,_Copenhagen.jpg
Groningen, Centrum, Vismarkt
Groninger Archieven
https://www.beeldbankgroningen.nl/beelden/detail/fbb64a77-fc59-e129-4908-6905e712e79e
Groningen, Centrum, Grote Markt (1965-1970)
Groninger Archieven
https://www.beeldbankgroningen.nl/beelden/detail/09bb5581-b715-7778-a6b6-180558984e4d
Sky view of Fresno, CA
https://www.google.com/earth/studio/
Photo of Fulton Mall, Fresno, CA (2011)
David Prasad, Flickr
CC BY-SA 2.0
Agenda Amsterdam Autoluw graphic
https://www.amsterdam.nl/bestuur-organisatie/volg-beleid/ambities/fijne-buurten/ruimte-autoluwe-stad/
https://assets.amsterdam.nl/publish/pages/921204/agenda_amsterdam_autoluw_1.pdf
Plus miscellaneous content licensed from Envato Elements
https://elements.envato.com/
40 Comments
There's so much I wanted to say on this subject, but the original >10-minute version covered too much, so I cut it down to be an introduction to the most important points. I will definitely follow-up this video with more on the subject. If there's anything in particular you would like to know about autoluw or Dutch street design in general, please let me know in the comments.
The Frans Halbuurt, the Ferdinand Bolstraat, and De Pijp in general, have a very interesting history that's worth exploring. There were a lot of people who did a lot of fighting to make it the way it is today. The Frans Halbuurt removing street parking is a recent development, and there's actually an underground parking garage in the adjacent canal to house all of the residents' and visitors' vehicles (so it's not very scalable). More on this later!
The term autoluw is devilishly difficult to define in English; harder than you think. I cut all of the translation talk out of this video because it was just too much of a rabbit hole. "luw" literally means "sheltered from the wind" but it generally means something that is technically allowed but that you want to minimize as much as possible. If you have heart problems your doctor might say you should start an "alcoholluw" diet. You could say a "low-alcohol diet" in English, but that doesn't really get to the core of the issue: that you really should not have any alcohol at all, but if you feel you HAVE to, make it very minimal. Once you understand that, you'll understand what it means to be "autoluw."
Anyway, a great subject, with lots of interesting facets. I hope you enjoyed it!
I've watched like 14 of this guy's videos now…. makes the USA feel depressing.
Easy to say we need fewer cars if you're able-bodied.
The Fremont Street experience in Las Vegas is now the best part of the city, after they took a famous road and pedestrianized it. The French Quarter of New Orleans is famous for its walkability.
The American approach to the concept be like : I want to get used to drinking coffee, but I don't want to drink it
When you were living in Toronto did you ever go to blue mountain in Collingwood? Probably one of the coolest places I've ever been.
This reminds me of the concept of the "fußgängerzone" in germany.
“Car minimal” as a translation?
Rarely have I ever subscribed to a channel after just one video, but here we are
really cool except for those lighting scooters, if that hit you
I love your videos, but they make me incredibly mad at my local government
I honestly just thought this was how it was. I've grown up in Liverpool in the UK and as a result it's the only city I've ever really been to, a city which, to get from train station to the high street as well as the majority if not all of the shops you have to cross one road from the station and I just thought that was how it was in cities. At least now I know, I also know for sure that it's how I think it should be
I'd call it careavoindent ..
im a dutch belg ( from Belgium )
Clips from Amsterdam looks to me like a conceptual design/architecture walkthrough video- almost unreal with how beautiful the streets are and even the lighting, the colors, the people!
Seams like a way build an outdoor mall with residential units.
R1 zoning sucks
This comment is gonna sound weird and off topic but is THAT A ROCKBOARD? 3:27
This begs the question that I have seen no one completely address: What if cars were removed for much much larger areas? (ie almost all of a downtown or 5-10 blocks combined). It is possible? Is it preferable? What about disabilities and emergency needs? What about deliveries? Waste? Would this make car rental a huge thing so people can visit the countryside without having to store an expensive car a mile from their home? I need this answered.
I understand why people want to own cars, but I've always thought there should be some areas for pedestrians and cyclists too.
Stroget in Copenhagen it is in fact forbidden to ride a bicycle along at all . You will see service automobiles at restricted times .
Tropical countries be like: no shit
You will own nothing.
🚴🏼♀️🚴🏼♀️#autoluw for the win!🏆
It boggles my mind how businesses would be against such a thing, as if they are unaware that people will be filling the streets instead of cars. As if they think nobody would be in those streets if there weren't cars…
I'm so fucking angry at America you have no idea
I'm going to my city's zoning meeting we're raising hell
this channel should be renamed "What's Up, Amsterdam" because this dude is dickriding capitalism and amsterdam soo hard.
urban planning is a bourgeoise science
Shame we're not that forward thinking in Australia.
The region where I'm from, they want to extend our light rail, however it'll only fit if they make the main "Stroad" each way.
The excuses from residents against it are:
It's antiquated technology
Where will I park my car
It'll cause traffic chaos
If we diverted the Stroad down the waterfront and converted where the LR is to run a car free zone, it'd be much better.
Unfortunately these NIMBYs don't see sense and we're too car centric.
Looks like outdoor mall…….in usa u drive park go inside the " mall"….
Downtown Eureka, CA fought a freeway bypass (that would have carved a freeway right through the heart of Eureka) and they actually won. Unfortunately, they didn't do anything else, and downtown eventually withered and died. They never addressed the fact that major arteries of hectic car traffic still rumbled through the most critical parts of he city – Hwy 101 becomes two giant stroads – and no other real transportation options were ever added. Now if you get away from the downtown area, and go into Old Town, which has much smaller streets and very limited parking, business is much livelier, and while I wouldn't say it's necessary thriving, it's doing much better and you'd hardly know you were in the same city – though downtown and Oldtown are mere blocks apart.
I like commercial street more than big store and what-not. You have control on your movement, you enjoy the landscape and take time. You see life in the street that cars can't provide.
When you walk or use bicycle, you keep yourself alive, for the mind and the body.
it's "stroyth" with the th from 'that', or more formally, "stroy-uht",. More or less, at least. The 'g' is soft.
Sorry.
I am so happy to find this channel and to learn about the sheer volume of literature there already is about vehicle-light urban planning. I've only ever lived in Manila and Seattle, both of which are massive traffic fusterclucks, so this was unimaginable to me until a few weeks ago when I was helping my younger sister buy her first car. Car payments, insurance, maintenance, traffic planning, parking planning, gas prices — I got so bitter thinking why TF am I inducting someone I care about into such a shit system that I myself abhor? And I started imagining a carless society. I guess what I'm trying to say is, thank you. The thought that this already exists in some parts of the world reignites my faith in humanity a little bit.
Great video’s. Only one thing. There’s more than The usual cities like Amsterdam . Please look also in Maastricht, Leeuwarden, Leiden, etc etc.
In Bangkok in Thailand many streets were built when there were few cars, and are sometimes only 5 metres wide. Autoluw could work well there, as some streets are narrow and have congestion, but are connected to transit on the main road. However, many other improvements would be needed, like more bridges and paths to stop you from having to walk or drive 1.5km to go a 200m distance.
State Street in Madison Wisconsin (between the Capitol and university) is “autoluw” in that private cars aren’t allowed. Busses and service vehicles are allowed though. The portion within UW is completely car free (about 1/4th).
Way forward
This will come as no surprise but:
I visited the Netherlands, mainly Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht (but also Leerdam) this month. One thought that always came to mind is, why, if we can see it here in the Netherlands, isn’t every city like this? I mean if a major has doubts if it works or is unsure how to do it, the Dutch have already made it. I have never and I do mean never felt more pleasant in an urban environment, even in Rotterdam. It’s just perfection.
And I’m not from North America or anything, I’m from the south of Germany. The concept in this video is spread here and it’s good but it’s not nearly as amazing as it is in the Netherlands. Just brilliant. Btw a main reason I visited the Netherlands is because of you(r videos) and I didn’t regret it at all, I’ll most likely visit again in the next 2 years
Calgary has one for as long as I can remember. It's popular with festivals, and many restaurants and shops thrive along it
Note: autoluw is (already works) where the people are
this channel made me start cycling again, in the town I live we have one decent cycle route the rest is all bike gutters etc. It helps that I was a fearless skateboarding kid back in my day, makes the terrifying experience of being overtaken closely by angry french people slightly more bearable.
However I have saved so much money from doing it, it is unbelievable. In this day and age where petrol is so expensive, you can completely forget about saving the planet and still find it hard to justify using a car instead of a bicycle.
I like to compare driving to fast food, it looks cheap and practical, but when you really dig in and go buy it you realise not only is it not as good as you remember, but it'll eat your wallet, make you fat and likely make you die sooner.