DeutschMore cars than ever before
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Hand on heart - what kind of street would you like to live on? Multi-lane city street, one-way street, residential street, play street, bicycle street, country road? Car traffic is increasingly dominating the residential areas of our cities. There have never been as many cars as there are today. They influence the quality of life and the value of real estate.
In Germany, there are more and more and ever larger cars, despite public debates about a traffic turnaround. In the past ten years, the density of passenger cars has continued to rise. According to the Federal Statistical Office, there were 580 passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants in 2021 - a record figure. In 2011, the car density was still 517. The density of passenger cars has increased significantly more than the population.
The regional differences in car density are large: it is highest in the western states of Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate and Bavaria. The lowest car density is found in the city states of Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen - also due to a dense public transport network.
Car density has increased in all other Member States of the European Union. Germany recently ranked 8th among the states with the highest car density. The most cars in relation to the population were in Luxembourg, Italy and Poland. The lowest car density was in Romania, Latvia and Hungary.
Cars with electric drives are on the rise. Among newly registered cars from January to July 2022, the share of vehicles powered exclusively by electric motors was already 13.6 percent.
Among private households, the trend over the past ten years has been towards second or third cars. The share of households owning at least one car was 77.0 percent in 2021.
Yet, according to the wishes of urban planners, our cities should actually become greener and greener in the future. Buildings, streets and nature should merge together. How can that be done with so many cars? What is already a reality in cities like Copenhagen is a long time coming in Germany.
(Photo: © Michi S., Kiel, Pixabay)