A historic photograph of the former Pozzo del Mare square, located between Piazza Unità d’Italia and the Cavana, shows the lively atmosphere of everyday urban life. Passersby rushing about their errands, a group of men chatting casually in the middle of the square, elegant ladies strolling slowly, a cyclist crossing through, and a backdrop of shops and cafés. Today the area is still one of the most vibrant parts of the city — but most of the people there are simply waiting at the pedestrian crossing. Cars entering the medieval part of the city have priority, after all.
Cars once promised easier movement through the city, and for decades cities tried hard to adapt to them. In fact, they still do. But the problems cars create are becoming increasingly clear. Let’s outline a few of the most obvious ones. First and foremost, cars take up far too much space, whether they are moving or parked. A single parked car occupies as much surface area as a small room. If we add up all the cars registered in Trieste, the parking space they would require is almost three times the size of the entire Old Port. Meanwhile, also most public space in the city is taken up by roads. Just imagine what all that space could be used for if there were fewer cars — how many parks, tree-lined avenues, squares, and playgrounds the city urgently needs!
Then there is pollution. Vehicle emissions are one of the main sources of greenhouse gases and air pollution. Asphalt and metal create heat islands that make city centers several degrees hotter in summer than their surroundings. The health consequences are less visible but no less serious: polluted air leads to respiratory illness, lack of physical activity increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, and noise affects mental health.
We should not overlook the economic and social impacts either. Space — especially urban space — is precious, and roads are expensive to build and maintain. Cities that are more car-dependent spend a larger share of their budgets on transport, and the same is true for households. Even more important are the indirect economic effects. Greater distances between services and activities, caused by roads and parking areas, reduce the attractiveness of all other modes of travel, which in turn increases demand for more roads and more parking. On the other hand, in cities where car traffic is reduced and calmed, safety and quality of life increase — and so do property values. Areas pleasant to walk in bring more life to local shops and cafés. Streets become genuine public spaces, enabling social interaction and public life.
Italy has by far the highest number of registered cars per capita in Europe, with the national average close to 70 cars per 100 residents. Six of the ten most motorized regions in Europe are Italian. In this context, Trieste actually fares somewhat better. According to Legambiente, the city has around 55 cars per 100 residents — more than 110,000 vehicles in total. Yet despite short distances and efficient public transport, 44 percent of all trips within the city are still made by car.
Trieste is therefore better than one might expect, but worse than it could be. Graz in Austria, a city of similar size, has just 46 cars per 100 residents, and cars are used for only about one-third of all trips. Ljubljana has shown, through systematic renewal of its city-center public spaces, that a city can thrive without cars; its investment in bike lanes has also made cycling more attractive. In Zagreb, nearly 40 percent of trips are made by public transport, while Vienna is steadily reducing space for cars in favor of public transport and cyclists.
Trieste — with its dense urban structure, limited space, and varied terrain — is practically a textbook example of a “city of short distances,” yet it still behaves as if it must accommodate cars at all costs. If, instead of searching for new parking areas, the city invested in wider sidewalks, tree-lined green streets, attractive public spaces, and high-capacity public transport, it would do far more for urban mobility — while at the same time reducing pollution and improving public health. And for Trieste, this is not a utopia but a realistic possibility.
Originally published in Primorski dnevnik, 20 November 2025.