Provision of and Defiance of Local Environmental Regulation: The Case of London’s Low-Traffic Neighbourhoods

• In Event: Greener Futures in Tense Times: Navigating Environmental Policy, Political Ideology, and Economic Well-Being

Abstract

Cities react to threats to environmental pollution and public health with several policy measures to promote walking and cycling. In London, these reactions included the introduction of 189 low-traffic neighborhoods (LTNs), which do not allow cars into some residential regions – a severe and highly visible alteration of residents’ lives and well-being. LTNs were first introduced to counteract traffic emissions and road danger, and their introduction was tremendously increased during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, after the introduction of 189 LTNs as of March 2021, 51 were already closed again in 2023. The areas where LTNs did not survive serve as an example of backtracking on environmental policies, which demonstrate both, the ambiguous signals send by political elites and the fears about reduced well-being by local residents.

To analyze how these factors act together, the survival of LTNs, given the frequency and intensity of LTN-related protests, local economic well-being, geographic variables, the degree of local political contestation, and the composition of the local councils (political parties), is analyzed. Using multiple sources of secondary data on London boroughs–who were tasked with implementing LTNs–provides tangible results. This study sheds light on the crucial phenomenon that environmental regulation can be contested after implication and, therefore, has important implications for distributive justice of environmental regulations. Politicians will be equipped with the tools needed to increase cities' livability by reducing transport emissions, which might be required in cities when climate pledges are not followed through with substantial policies.

Author

• Gracia Brückmann, University of Bern