Planning fundamental urban traffic changes: Experiences with the Groningen traffic circulation scheme

Abstract

The city of Groningen in the Netherlands attracted much attention in the 1970s because of its fundamentally new traffic circulation scheme (VCP) that favoured public transport, bicycles and pedestrians above cars. The inner city was divided into four sectors and through traffic was made impossible by traffic restrictions. Moving by car from one sector to another is possible only via the ring road around the inner city. In this paper it will be explained how this fundamental change could happen. This was a most interesting process since the suspicious public had to be convinced by municipal authorities without having references to successful examples elsewhere. It is illustrated that the most determining factor for success was the availability of political power to neglect opposing views. Both expert involvement (bureaucracy) and citizen participation were reduced to a minimum level. © 2004 WIT Press.