The city and mobility in the automobile age: the work of Colin Buchanan (1958-1966)

Author(s)

Alexandre Rodrigues Seixas

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Carlos.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC/SBD)
• Defense date: 2010-08-26

Examining board members

Renato Luiz Sobral Anelli; Sarah Feldman; Maria Cristina da Silva Leme; Eduardo Alcantara de Vasconcelos; Silvana Maria Zioni

• Advisor: Renato Luiz Sobral Anelli

Abstract

The object of this thesis is to provide subsidies for understanding the complex relationship between the city and its circulation systems, especially from the several urban transformations that have occurred over the twentieth century. It is our hypothesis that the work of the British engineer-planner Colin Buchanan, drafted between 1958 and 1966, constitutes an important contribution to the debate about this relationship, mainly by shifting the focus of concerns about traffic issues for the city. In this movement, Buchanan makes a strong point of view against some hegemonic currents of transportation planning that emphasized the issues favored constructive or economic analysis. This work identifies a clear option for the car as a mode of transportation and discusses four key urban issues: 1) urban mobility as a political issue, 2) the movement as urban phenomenon, 3) the local urban scale, 4) urban structure and regional traffic. These four dimensions, as named in this work, support what we consider his proposal to the city for the automobile age. (AU)