Even without low emission zone: Hanover becomes car-free

Germans are having a hard time with the shift to modern mobility away from the car. While super-blocks prevail in Barcelona, where green oases can be found instead of car traffic, more and more streets are closed to car traffic in Paris and car-free Sundays are widely accepted in many cities and cities like London and Stockholm take high tolls to reduce the flow of cars into the city, hardly anything happens in Germany. The rules of low emission zones in this country have hardly changed since the zones were introduced. Many car-free projects meet with such strong opposition from the population that politicians usually quickly do a U-turn. In Berlin, a new motorway is being built right in the heart of the city, and a permanent parking space is already available here for 20 euros a year. 

But something is happening in Hanover. At first, motorists in the capital of Lower Saxony must have been rejoicing. From January 2024, there will no longer be an environmental zone. Free travel for all. But the green mayor has other plans. He wants to turn the city completely upside down. 

After the Second World War, the city was rebuilt as a dream for motorists. A six-lane city ring and star-shaped roads to the city centre linked all the districts with each other. Two elevated roads through the middle of the city centre also helped citizens to avoid the traffic lights in the city centre and thus to cross the city quickly. At the time, Der Spiegel cheered that one could "dash to the city centre at unlimited speed".

The Green mayor Belit Onay now wants to change the city and make it "fit for the future and for people". He wants it to become a model for other cities. He had already run his election campaign with the car-free city and won narrowly. For him, "car-free" does not mean that there are generally no more cars on the road, but that there should be "not one car too many" in the city. People who depend on cars are still allowed to drive. If there are fewer cars on the road overall, the people who really need them will reach their destination faster. 

And it is not only in terms of moving cars that he wants to change the cityscape. In the city centre, the approximately 4,000 residents will only be allowed to park in private parking spaces. Public parking spaces are to be completely abolished. Instead, people driving into the city centre will have to park in multi-storey car parks. These are far from being fully utilised. 

This is to create more space for citizens. The focus is to be on walking and cycling. 12 new cycle routes are planned. In addition, 5,000 new bike & ride spaces will be created and 3,000 new park & ride spaces outside the city. Many traffic lights are to be removed and lanes eliminated. Wherever cars and pedestrian or bicycle traffic meet, a speed limit of 20 or at most 30 km/h is to apply. In addition, at least 3 car-free superblocks are to be created, following the example of Barcelona. Which neighbourhoods are eligible for this is still being studied. 

In implementing the radical plan, Onay relied heavily on citizen participation. Here, for example, he saw mistakes on the part of politicians when Berlin's Friedrichstraße was closed. There was a lot of resistance in Berlin because people's needs were not taken into account or their fears were not taken seriously. Onay tries to enter into a dialogue with the people first and to understand what they want and what they need. Transparency is important to him so that citizens do not feel overrun. 

The idea of a green city with hardly any cars sounds fantastic. The concept sounds well thought out. But only as long as everyone can get to their destination comfortably. Whether Hanover can convince in reality when the time comes remains to be seen. If the implementation is a success, Hanover could indeed once again become a pioneering city when it comes to cars.