This is precisely the future that J. H. Crawford envisions in Carfree Cities, which unapologetically argues that modern car usage is an example of technology that has been inappropriately applied--and that the time has come to reclaim city streets for human activity.

Working from the position that the carfree city is the cornerstone of sustainable development, Crawford outlines a city structure carefully designed to maximize the quality of life for individuals and communities worldwide, and gives practical suggestions for gradually implementing the reference design in existing cities, and for creating new ones.

In the face of a society that seems to unquestionably accept the deterioration of our modern quality of life, Carfree Cities is a beacon of sanity that offers a starting place to discuss practical solutions to the danger, pollution and breakdown of social systems which are a direct result of autocentrism. By rejecting the assumption that continued car use in cities is inescapable, Crawford takes us one step closer to the tantalizing possibility of returning to the natural human pattern of lively and productive street life enjoyed for thousands of years, and disrupted just 70 years ago with the advent of automobiles.