The Hidden Potential behind the City Planned for Cars

Abstract The impact of the car in the city goes beyond carbon emissions; the amount of land taken by roads or the fact that it is the least efficient way to move people. Additional services related to parking spaces or maintenance also requires land and become an important source of underused land within the city. Therefore, this paper will try to establish the real impact of cars within the urban tissue of the city of Quito. If the hypothesis is correct, by quantifying the real land use used by and for cars, the city can be more efficient in planning and implementing a safe, clean and affordable transportation system. Hence, as a result, any newly available land poses an opportunity to shift and adapt the urban tissue towards spaces and resources that can contribute to the sustainable development of the city and therefore improving is diversity.