Walkers of the world, unite. While Modbury, that sleepy Devonshire backwater may have formed the vanguard of the green charge by banishing plastic bags back in 2007, the inhabitants of Vauban in southern Germany have gone one carbon footprint-free step further by outlawing cars. The district’s 5,000 ecologically minded inhabitants now zip about its safe and virtually silent roads on bicycles or on foot. Street parking, driveways and home garages are forbidden and, although car ownership is tolerated – indeed, 30 per cent of families still risk the wrath of their neighbours by retaining a vehicle – there are only two places to park, both of which are located on the town’s outer limits. Other places in Germany have been slow to follow suit (in fact, the only other car-free community in development is on the outskirts of Oakland in California, USA), but, to the Vaubanians, the matter is clear: four wheels bad, two wheels good.
The moment
Vauban – the car-free town