"From Offenbach to Leipzig, North America to Australia, the findings are similar wherever you ask the people," says Thomas, summarising various recent studies: "On average, only 7% of shoppers living in urban areas go shopping by car, and around 51% of those surveyed live less than one kilometre from their shopping streets."
As a city and traffic planner, Thomas has to counter the emotionality of future car-independent cities with facts. "The problem," he describes, "is that over the past 60-70 years, we've done everything we can to make the car our number one transportation choice. It hurts to have to rethink our behaviour." Here, Thomas mentions several reasons: convenience ("it's always been that way"), fear of loss ("something is being taken away from me"), and self-image ("I park where I want."). "Fact is," Thomas emphasises, "people live healthier lives in car-free areas. We must create more convenient public transport alternatives; our cars are taking up far too much space. We can't afford to keep going like this any longer."
«93% of shoppers do not go to shops by car. Around 51% of those surveyed live less than one kilometre from their shopping streets.»
Thomas co-founded urbanista.ch based on his conviction that urban and traffic planning (generally considered separately) are, in fact, complementary and interdependent. “Our clients appreciate our inquisitive and holistic approach to their strategic projects: How can free urban spaces be used when industries move away? How can people who rely on cars use their vehicles more efficiently while at the same time helping to reduce the total number of vehicles in cities?"
Since 2016, Thomas has been increasingly involved in redesigning urban areas, finding suitable concepts, and rolling them out in collaboration with partners. "Very often, politicians are too afraid of change. Many people lose their objectivity when faced with such highly emotional topics," Thomas reports from his experience. "It takes guts and perseverance to be bold, and urbanista.ch primarily appeals to those who aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo."
Thomas' views - far from being popular - are as contentious as they are creative, always fact-based, and widely shared on social media. "The orders don't just come flooding into our office. We’ve found our niche and want to discuss it by showcasing positive examples and highlighting new ideas. It's a fine line, but we consciously define it on social media. Our clear stance highlights sustainable, resource-oriented, inclusive strategies and projects in city and traffic planning. Hence, we are found by customers who are a good fit for us." urbanista.ch offers services out of conviction, and its employees are also privately engaged: in addition to co-designing and participating in the creation of smart cities, they are also focused on rural areas and the question of how autonomous vehicles, for example, can contribute to greater autonomy for a growing population.
«People live healthier lives in car-free areas. We must create more convenient public transport alternatives; our cars are taking up far too much space. We can't afford to keep going like this any longer.»
"Nobody is planning the transformation of our cities just to annoy people or take something away from them," Thomas continues. "But carrying on mindlessly as before will lead us to a dead end." The 32-year-old points to climate change and the fact that we will need more trees and shade to cool down cities. Increasing heavy rainfall also calls for drainage areas, which could be freed up through more efficient parking space management (i.e., thanks to shared mobility). If these considerations are supplemented by public transport and an attractive cycling infrastructure, this will lead to a climate-neutral transport system.
"Our ambition is to provide a prototype for future mobility," Thomas says. "It's about the future allocation of space. If we don't tackle this issue boldly at the highest possible level, we will never be happy on our roads."
Trees reduce the heat in summer by up to 10 degrees through shade and evaporation. However, because politicians have not (yet) acted accordingly, an urban climate experiment is being carried out in Zurich to draw attention to this: a so-called “rambling tree avenue.” It symbolises the urgent need for additional trees – aiming for "Trees instead of asphalt."
The trees on sidewalks and parking bays are intended to sensitise people and remind them: "There could be something other than a parking space here."
The best way to deal with a highly emotional topic such as the "allocation of space” on our roads is to challenge it with facts. Data opens our eyes and helps us cope with change. "The problem," Thomas explains, "is that there is an incredible amount of information on car traffic out there because, for example, detectors at traffic lights measure the cars or because our cell phones and navigation systems are constantly tracking us. However, there is hardly any public data on smaller vehicles such as bicycles or human mobility behaviours. This makes the case for traffic calming challenging. Only very gradually do we see first attempts being made to generate protected data that is less car-centric."
Thomas refers to another study that complicates how we rethink the future of mobility: "In a confrontation in road traffic, car drivers do not perceive cyclists as human, but rather abstractly as road users. Surveys from Denmark and Australia confirm this. This abstraction makes it easier to justify aggression." So, we perceive a cyclist as a traffic participant, not a human being. As a result, this lack of empathy increases the risk for everyone.
"Data can help give cyclists in traffic a human face and therefore legitimacy," Thomas concludes. "In this way, we can share space more considerately and make it more efficient for everyone participating in mobility – all human beings.” Thomas is convinced: “More data brings more insights, and more insights lead to a more human-centred city, just so long as we put them into practice."