Trouble’s brewing! Smog in Hamburg’s Streets – The Fight for the Future of the Car-Friendly City

The aim of the research project is to examine the conflicts relating to cars. Initiatives criticize the dominance of cars in urban traffic and campaign for an alternative mobility. A theoretical and research work shall explain the development towards car-friendly cities.

In order to understand which conflicts the commitment of these initiatives involves, we intend to find out what kind of people campaign for an alternative mobility – who are they, what are their interests, which objectives do they have, why do they engage themselves - and what kind of opposing interests do they face in their fight against cars. How do they deal with these conflicts? Who supports them, where are (in-)surmountable hurdles? And last but not least: What leads to the success of a reduced car traffic in these fights? We intend to answer this question empirically by interviewing these initiatives in Hamburg.

Student research group

• Corinna Endreß
• Eva Gaßen

Mentor

• Prof. Dr. Anita Engels