Kairbaan Hodivala-Dilke

R310 Current Biology 26, R307–R318, April 25, 2016 Most European cities have since the 1970s pedestrianised their main shopping streets and taken additional measures to keep cars out of the narrower streets of the historic centres. The Netherlands, now known as a paradise for cyclists, did not become one due to the genetic disposition of the inhabitants but due to conscious planning decisions designed to change behaviour. Similarly, Sweden achieved its world-leading low rate of road casualties by innovations in city planning, road design and car manufacturing. The French cities Lyon and Paris led the way to a wider take-up of cycling with their pioneering fully automated bike rental programmes in 2005 and 2007, respectively, which were later copied by London and many other cities. Thus, a change of course towards more sustainable and less dangerous modes of transport would be possible, but in a world economy addicted to unlimited growth, and with car manufacturing being one of the few industries that can still offer a growth prospect, we seem to be stuck on automatic pilot driving towards a planet with two billion cars and very little space for anything else.