Were streets in European cities built for cars?

Obviously some were and some weren't. London for instance, where I live, was originally a Roman city and they hadn't invented Fiats and Alfa Romeos when they left in about 600AD. London burnt to the ground in 1666 during the Great Fire of London. read more

Streets built before the 20th century were not. The streets built after the WWI or WWII were, depending on which part of Europe we are talking about. However the 1800’s already saw predecessors of cars such as electric carriages. The 19th century streets had to endure significantly more traffic than the medieval ones. read more

Electric streetcars or trolley(car)s (North American English for the European word tram) were once the chief mode of public transit in hundreds of North American cities and towns. Most of the original urban streetcar systems were either dismantled in the mid-20th century or converted to other modes of operation, such as light rail. read more

Unsurprisingly, the changes are happening fastest in European capitals that were designed hundreds or thousands of years before cars were ever built. In sprawling U.S. suburbs that were designed for driving, the path to eliminating cars is obviously more challenging. (And a few car-loving cities, like Sydney, Australia, are going in the other direction, and taking away pedestrian space on some downtown streets so there’s more room for cars). read more