The growing population of the Netherlands is putting pressure on the accessibility and liveability of Dutch cities. To address both challenges new mobility policies prioritise quiet, low-emission and space-efficient modes of transport. This changing perspective on urban mobility is thus increasingly in odds with the characteristics of the private car, as private (fuel-engine) cars are loud, polluting and space-inefficient compared to other sustainable modes of transport. To illustrate, a personal trip by private car in Amsterdam requires about 95m2 of public space, of which 15m2 is dedicated to parking. For this reason, cities in the Netherlands are looking at measures to reduce (extra) car mobility. They expect that parking regulations could be an effective instrument to reduce car ownership and improve the liveability of cities. But, evidence to support these claims is lacking as the effects of such policies are understudied in car ownership research, which mainly focus on sociodemographic and household characteristics to predict car ownership levels. Therefore, this study aims to address this knowledge gap in the current car ownership literature and support municipalities to substantiate policy interventions and in finding a good balance between car accessibility and liveability.
Please note: Appendix C includes the assumptions for the constructed population groups, that were used in the demographic scenario. Those population groups (driver license possession, car ownership) are based on national statistics, rather than the specific municipal statistics for Almere. The transport situation in Almere differs from most other cities in the Netherlands (EG. in the modal split) so the average statistics for the Netherlands may not be as applicable for Almete which could have a minor influence on the result.
Author: Jelle Bart van der Loo
Publication date: 2025