How to design for cars in people-centred places
Practical design strategies to meet the needs of drivers while creating great places for people.
Join an upcoming webinar with Happy Cities and Mobycon to learn more!
A new design guide for people-centred places
Planning and transportation departments often face a seemingly impossible challenge: create vibrant, walkable places without worsening traffic or alienating drivers. How can cities meet both needs at once?
Join Happy Cities and Mobycon as we launch our new design guide—with four tested strategies to meet the needs of drivers and build places people love.
We’re hosting a free webinar to launch the guide and answer your burning questions. Stay tuned for the signup link!
During the webinar, our teams will introduce the core transportation challenges behind transforming communities for walkability, including what current approaches get wrong. We’ll then introduce four tested design strategies that you can apply to transform your own community for walkability and vibrancy—while also improving the efficiency of car travel.
Join us for a free webinar on Thursday, Sept. 17, from 9-10:15 a.m. PT / 12-1:15 p.m. ET.
The session will include a 45-minute presentation, followed by a moderated Q&A period.
Why design for drivers?
Driving plays an important economic role in cities and helps support access for people with different abilities or preferences. Many design guidelines outline requirements for safe pedestrian and bike infrastructure to support active mobility. But there are no equivalent guidelines on how to meet the needs of cars in these people-centred places.
Without distinct guidelines for cars in people-centred places, North American cities rely on the default road design standards set by organizations like AASHTO—standards originally designed for highways. When applied in people-centred places, they undermine the vibrancy and walkability that cities seek to achieve.
The guide proposes that cities need two fundamentally distinct categories to guide street and community design—car-centred and people-centred. It argues that a new design approach is needed to meet the needs of cars in people-centred places, and outlines four practical strategies to do so.
Who is this guide for?
This guide offers guidance tailored for North American cities on how to meet the needs of drivers in people-centred areas. The content is aimed at:
Municipal planners
Engineers, and other transportation professionals
Professional organizations for the above industries
Elected officials
Community advocates and interested residents
The guide integrates the Happy Cities approach to community planning and wellbeing-focused design with Mobycon’s Dutch-rooted, human-centred mobility expertise.
Get your free copy of the guide today!
Our new design guide offers practical tools to:
Identify car-centred areas versus people-centred places in your community
Understand the distinct needs of people-centred places, and what can improve driver satisfaction in these areas
Implement four tested strategies to meet the needs of cars in people-centred places, without undermining street life
Fill out the form below to access the guide! And email us if you’d like to receive a free presentation to your team.
By signing up for the guide, you agree to receive monthly updates from Happy Cities and Mobycon our email newsletters. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Meet our teams
About Happy Cities
Happy Cities designs downtowns, main streets and neighbourhoods for social connection — helping clients build happier, healthier, more inclusive communities. Our research equips municipalities and practitioners with data and best practices to support community wellbeing and implement human-centred design.
Since 2016, we have worked in over 50 cities in eight countries, with offices in Halifax and Vancouver, Canada. We are a multidisciplinary team of urban planners, architects, landscape designers, and engagement specialists. Happy Cities is a certified B Corp and Living Wage Employer.
Our work draws on psychology, neuroscience, public health, and behavioural economics to link urban design to wellbeing. We have studied dozens of public spaces with our award-winning Public Life Study tool, measured social connection and happiness in multi-unit housing at all scales, and have led suburban transformations in diverse settings across North America from Las Vegas to rural Nova Scotia.
About Mobycon
Mobycon designs streets, networks, and systems to create communities that are less dependent on the car.
With 40 years of operation in the Netherlands and a presence across North America since 2012, our team works across planning, design, policy, and research to translate global best practices into implementable strategies. From neighbourhood street redesigns to regional mobility frameworks, we focus on solutions that balance access, safety, and livability.
We help cities and towns create context-sensitive mobility solutions that support vibrant, inclusive places — grounded in the Safe System approach and decades of international practice. We support public and private partners through advisory services, technical guidance, and capacity building, equipping teams with the tools and knowledge to deliver lasting change.
Our work emphasizes collaboration, practical implementation, and measurable outcomes — helping communities design for both movement and place.
