What a relief it was to arrive at Venice after days of dodging cars and pedestrians on a drive from Germany to walk on the Piazza San Marco of Venice and focus my attentions on a beautiful, car-free city and delightful Venetians. At least for a while I did not have to endure vehicular noise and odor nor be concerned for my longevity. Since that first trip to Venice in 1957 we've been to car-free places such as Zermatt in Switzerland, Paqueta Island off Rio de Janeiro, and Sarayaku deep in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Cities largely car-free include Bruges in Belgium, Dubrovnik in Croatia and Freiburg in Germany. Cities with limited car-free areas include the Stroget in Copenhagen, Minneapolis with 5 miles of overhead enclosed passageways, and Bueno Aires.

Observing the rebuilding of European cities after the Second World War, I saw over the decades that the emergence of a mass car culture was causing street life to diminish, increases in noise and pollution, isolation of people and communities, and urban blight and sprawl. In the United States cars and light trucks emit one-third of its global warming emissions and are involved in over 42,000 fatalities annually. Cities and towns are designed not for people but for the automobile, demanding vast outlays for infrastructure. Our dreams of personal mobility have turned into traffic nightmares, never solved by adding new lanes here and there. Mobility and better living conditions would be better served with balanced transportation of mass transit, bike lanes, and sidewalks.

Car-free neighborhoods have been established in Hamburg, Vienna, Amsterdam, and Edinburgh in recent years contributing to more sustainable cities. These neighborhoods, particularly attractive to younger adults and seniors, ideally are situated near frequent public transit and bike routes, within walking distance of shopping and services, near parks and gathering places, and sheltered from noise and pollution. Parking spaces for shared autos and visitors' autos are found on the periphery.

Completed in 2006, Vauban in Freiburg, Germany, is an excellent example of a car-free neighborhood for 5000 inhabitants on 38 hectares environmentally designed through the cooperation of citizens, government, and public utilities. Although there are spaces for some residents' cars outside Vauban, residents without cars receive special compensation. One of the largest solar districts in Europe, photo-voltaic panels can be seen on Vauban's rooftops. A co-generation plant fired by gas and woodchips supplies hot water and most of the electricity for Vauban. Green spaces and corridors provide play areas for children and social interaction for adults.

Slateford is a car-free urban village of 6 hectares surrounding a tear-shaped green space in Edinburgh, Scotland, inspired by the neolithic village of Skara Brae. Slateford is one of the most energy-efficient housing projects in Edinburgh with its 120 flats heated from the waste heat of a nearby distillery. Representative car-free places in the United States include the resort Island of Mackinac in Lake Huron, Catalina Island off California, Tangier Island in Chesapeake Bay, and Bald Head Island off North Carolina.

In Europe, Mobility Week was celebrated September 16-22, 2005, dedicated to sustainable mobility with Car Free Day being the week's main event. Awareness of the growing greenhouse emissions from autos is emphasized as well as the health effects, particularly respiratory and cardiovascular disease from tailpipe pollutants, injuries, and traffic noise. On July 23, 2005, Pittsburgh celebrated a Car Free Day for Pittsburghers who had pledged not to drive. Their Car Free Festival featured local crafts and arts, music, food, tree planting, and a bicycle tractor pull. Participants were educated in the economic costs of driving including infrastructure, manufacturing, fuel, and environmental and social costs.

With peak world oil production nearing and ensuing global warming demanding less petroleum use, citizens and governments are coming to realize that car-free living is imperative in a world with half of its population in urban areas. Architects and city planners are at work experimenting with sustainable housing and mobility for new and redesigned communities.