According to the latest industry predictions, Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) will become a reality in the wealthiest urban environments within the next 10 years. Steer has produced a design study to understand how this shift will change the faces of our cities.
The work has involved an interdisciplinary team of professionals at Steer, including experts in urban design, architecture, intelligent mobility, transport planning, landscape architecture, and highway engineering. As designers, we want to contribute to the debate and help urban dwellers envision and capitalise on the transformations that this revolution will bring.
This report speculates the ways this imminent change in urban mobility and technology may affect the urban form and public realm in cities within the next 20 years, and it also proposes ways in which cities could prepare for them.
The work focuses on the transition period when both driverless vehicles and existing cars will compete for space in the city. Two case studies have been looked at, London and Los Angeles, as the two cities are emblematic within western societies and display a rich array of the issues faced by many other cities worldwide.
You can download the report here - Who's Driving? A manifesto for city centres in the age of driverless car (PDF).