Car-Free Manhattan: Just Wait 100 Years

I just caught up with this article in the Times on Saturday about a competition for engineers and architects to envision New York City in 2106. Check out one of the winning design concepts:

After the judges’ hasty deliberations, Daniel L. Doctoroff, the city’s deputy mayor for economic development, presented the prizes. He said his office was preoccupied by many of the same concerns as the contestants – “parks and open space and pedestrianization and transportation” – though it might not be looking quite as far ahead.

“It’s so exciting for me to see this group of architects and designers think so creatively about the future,” he said.

Mr. Marvel’s team won the honorary mention for technological advancement. The Terreform group won the mention for best presentation, with a proposal that involved eliminating privately owned cars in Manhattan; it predicted that 60 percent of the city’s population would be walking to work by 2038.

Over all, the proposals conveyed a confidence that amid energy shortages, population increases and global warming, New York’s urban problems could be addressed and even solved.

Photo: Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times