Self-driving cars and city planning: expectations and policy implications

Autonomous driving has started to receive attention not only by the research community but also by planning practitioners and policy makers concerned with urban development. There is great concern and perhaps even greater uncertainty about how autonomous vehicles in cities may possibly affect a core domain of city planning: the interaction of the transport system with land use and the built environment. With respect to autonomous driving and its relation to land use and the built environment, dealing with this uncertainty first of all requires a common and transparent understanding about plausible use cases and scenarios (including their development pathways) of the technology and its implications (Heinrichs 2016, Fraedrich et al. 2015) . The specific effects on the built environment and - what might be of even greater importance in this regard - what requirements follow from that for policy interventions as well as urban planning have so far not been sufficiently explored. The paper responds to these needs and questions. Going beyond a what-if perspective, it seeks to clarify and uncover the potentials and challenges of autonomous driving from a planning perspective. Specific questions are: (1) What expectations do planning practitioners have regarding likely effects of autonomous driving in an urban context and how far do these match existing planning objectives and frameworks from their point of view? (2) How do planning practitioners prepare for a potential introduction of autonomous driving in urban areas and where do they see priorities for action? (3) What follows from this in terms recommendations and implications for planning action policy