The Potential of Driverless Cars in America

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The potential to free up this astonishing amount of space, often 10, 12, 15% of American downtowns for other purposes is potentially pretty exciting. I'm really glad you mentioned the idea of right sizing vehicles because this is a phenomenon that obviously creates a big, a lot of stress on the parking stock. And also, I think creates an obstacle towards more people-friendly cities because those cars take up so much room and they're quite hard to see.

For decades, urban planners have blanketed our cities with the cheap and convenient car storage known as parking. They've swapped sidewalks for strip malls and bulldozed bright, inviting storefronts to make room for dark, urine-scented parking garages. In some downtowns, more land is now devoted to parking than buildings.

Parking profligacy has left us with cities that are polluted and hostile to pedestrians; they're also increasingly unaffordable because legally required parking can drive up the cost of residential construction by 25 percent.

In "Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World," journalist Henry Grabar dares to imagine a future in which we knock parking off its pedestal by enacting new laws, adopting new attitudes, and embracing new technologies (like e-bikes and autonomous cars) that make our cities greener, friendlier, safer, and more fun.