After failing to implement a car ban, Oslo officials are converting downtown street parking into public space.

Oslo officials made ambitious goals to cut the city's emissions by 95 percent by 2030, then a downtown car ban failed to pass. Still, officials didn't give up on cutting the significant portion of emissions that comes from private cars. "Instead of an outright car ban, Oslo has now announced a tactical-urbanism approach to limiting vehicle movement through the city center by simply removing all the parking spots from the area," Eillie Anzilotti reports for Fast Company.
The onstreet parking the city is reclaiming will be put to use in other means. "Some will be playgrounds or cultural events, or [contain] benches or bike parking—or other things you can fill the space with when you don’t have 1,200 kilograms of glass and steel," Oslo vice mayor for environment and transport Lan Marie Nguyen Berg recently said on the record for a separate article for The Guardian.
"Those plans are spelled out in more detail in the city’s outline for six pilot spaces, which include ideas for a beer garden and an 'outdoor living area' featuring different pieces of street furniture and an e-bench with wifi and charging capabilities," Anzilotti writes.
Officials hope that business and residents will benefit from the more walk-centric streets and become more enthusiastic about the move. If they don't, these changes are unlikely to stick and it will be hard for the city to hit its emission's goals.
FULL STORY: If You Can’t Ban Cars Downtown, Just Take Away The Parking Spaces

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Diego Adopts First Mobility Master Plan
The plan provides a comprehensive framework for making San Diego’s transportation network more multimodal, accessible, and sustainable.

Walmart Announces Nationwide EV Charging Network
The company plans to install electric car chargers at most of its stores by 2030.

Seattle Builds Subway-Sized Tunnel — for Stormwater
The $700 million ‘stormwater subway’ is designed to handle overflows during storms, which contain toxic runoff from roadways and vehicles.

Feds Clear Homeless Encampment in Oregon Forest
The action displaced over 100 people living on national forest land near Bend, Oregon.

Is This Urbanism?
Chuck Wolfe ponders a recommended subscription list of Substack urbanists and wonders — as have others — about the utility of the "urbanist" moniker.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Moorpark
City of Tustin
Tyler Technologies
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions