Calm the traffic, tame the car

Abstract

The notion of bringing traffic to heel through public space control has been widely incorporated within both the theory and practice of urban administration and has achieved wide acceptance among city dwellers. The fact of the struggle as between the city and the automobile has become a moot point for any considering of the city. of its many crises and, most especially, for the adopting of environmental and social positions when attempting to draw up solutions for this conflict. For all that, such ideas have as yet hardly found their niche in either the projecting or putting into effect of urbanistic matters in Spain's cities and as a result, the paper argues, have not been given media coverage. Despite this being so, there are abundant signs that the issue is slipping into the vocabulary in use as within professional circles and that this will help towards a technical, social and political discussing of the problem. Thus, when both the terms in use and the experience they relate to do hit the press,it is here hoped that many a sterile discussion will be avoided along with many of the misunderstandings that so frequently crop up when it is the media that establishes, thanks to its powers to broadcast and simplify, either the ter ms to be used or the scope of their reference.