“The hospitality of cities”

The spread of electronic cars would make Germany’s cities much more hospitable, writes Joachim Käppner in an opinion piece for the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Currently, many cities were unable “to ensure compliance with regulations for clean air even with driving bans,” Käppner writes. “The next generation will be baffled by that,” he adds. Cheaper e-cars and carmakers’ plans to ramp up charging infrastructure soon would have an effect on German cities, many of which had been designed around individual mobility after World War II, Käppner explains. But replacing conventional cars with electric ones “will not be enough,” he adds. Cities had to “discover new forms of mobility” by further expanding public transportation systems, car sharing and cycling infrastructure.

Read the commentary in German here.