O Carro como Castelo entre Castelos. Os sinais do presente para o desenho da cidade no futuro. Porto, Milão, Los Angeles

Abstract

The evolution of cities under the magnitude of the influence of the car being the 'mobility tool' o choice, through the loud threat of the environmental issues and, for the last 50 or so years, the political will changing in favour of the public ("group", "collective") transport. By studying three different types of cities, in two different continents and three different ways of development of the "addiction to the car" - Los Angeles, as the American way of planning, living and "full on addiction" to the car; Milan as the "European way of planning", on the cutting edge of innovation regarding mobility, with several (more, or less successful) solutions to contain traffic and pollution; Porto, as the Portuguese example and demonstration of "being late to the party", with dated solutions and a constant search for bettering them -, it seems to be very hard to introduce the concept of collective transport in an increasingly individual society which lives their daily routines in an increasingly bigger territory. This also seems to be true regardless of the sheer size of the territory and country, the way it was designed and shaped, when it started being developed and the economical, energy and environmental crisis the world has gone through. The uses of the city and the way to "enjoy" cities changed due to mobility - the concept of speed changed and circulating through cities became their main use. The increasing concerns with the environmental issues, mainly caused by the car and industry weren't the only oppositions to individual mobility, and the trend of city design has long been to remove cars, to "collectivize" mobility or make it "lighter". The evolution of the cities was, then, shaped by the car and way we've used over the last one and a half centuries - but how can we make mobility, using the car less as whole or "less and less", more bearable, not only for the environment, for the cities. The proposed idea in this document is a mix of individual and collective mobility, seeking a way to coordinate the individual paths of the people who are part of a collective society which inhabits the cities and helps plan and design them.