Sign of things to come: Carfree conference comes to the U.S.

What’s a carfree conference? That’s probably what most U.S. citizens would wonder since the first six carfree conferences occurred only in Europe**. However, as you read through the list below, you’ll see that’s about to change…

Towards Carfree Cities I: Lyon, France; October 1997;
Organized by EYFA (European Youth for Action) and RVV (Regroupement pour une ville sans voiture, or Group for a Carfree City, Lyon), with 60-80 primarily young participants. This led to the founding of Car Busters, the magazine and resource centre (which later became the World Carfree Network) of the global carfree movement.

Towards Carfree Cities II: Timisoara, Romania; April 2000;
Organized with Young Romanian Nature Friends, with 60-80 primarily young participants.

Towards Carfree Cities III: Prague, Czech Republic; April 2003;
Organized by Car Busters, which became the World Carfree Network at the conference, with 60 participants and consensus to host the conference annually.

Towards Carfree Cities IV: Berlin, Germany; July 2004;
Organized with Autofrei Wohnen, Autofrei Leben!, BUND (Friends of the Earth Germany), ITDP Europe, and other German organizations, with 180 participants.

Towards Carfree Cities V: Budapest, Hungary; July 2005;
Organized by the Clean Air Action Group, Hungarian Traffic Club and Hungarian Young Greens.

Towards Carfree Cities VI: Bogota, Colombia; September 2006;
Organized with Fundación Ciudad Humana, with 120 participants.

Towards Carfree Cities VII: Istanbul, Turkey, August 27-31, 2007
Organized with the Turkish Traffic Safety Association, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Faculty of Architecture, Department of City and Regional Planning, with 200 participants from 20 countries.

Towards Carfree Cities VIII: Portland, Oregon, USA June 16-20, 2008
Organized with Carfree City USA, Shift, Portland State University, the first Carfree conference in the U.S.

This entry also signals a new category for this site: Pedestrian Only/Carfree.

**Not surprising given that most carfree cities and districts are in Europe.

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neilkt