From moving pavements to underground cycle routes, looks at the stepss being taken for a cleaner, greener city

underground rail networks… which offero a safe way to navigate the city,” he adds. Some 43 per cent of Londoners would consider c ycling if companies would provide bike storage, and 39 per cent would if they could shower, ukactive research shows. As Ward points out, these improvements don’t require major investment in infrastructure.in

Could it be that fewer Londoners will own a car in the future? Already various car pooling companies are operating in the capital, and on paper, communal carsc make sense. Just a quarter of car owners in London use their vehicle once a week or less, and the average LondonerL drives for 52 minutes a day — and much of that time is spent lookingn for parking spaces.

With better technology and availabilitmpnda ity, how much more sense would it make if you could buy a “mobility” package tailored to your transport needs, asks Dr Steve Cassidy, managing director of Viaqqio — part of transport and mobility company ESP Group? These could include late-night lifts for your teenager for instance, or transport forfo a relative with dementia.

“Imagine you don’t own anything, you just consume a service,” says Cassidy, who hopes the UK is on the edge of a shift towards transport subscriptionti rather than ownership. Londoners area spending £15 a day to run their cars, says Henrik Lysgaard Jensen, who’s launching a car hire app and service Ubeeqo. Flexible car hire ultimately will ease congestion, he says — rather than sitting around, cars could be used to capacity. Fewer owners need fewer parking spaces, potentially freeing up hectares in the capital. Ubeeqo’s fleet comprises petrol cars — asking consumers to buy into electric vehicles is, currently, a step too far, he believes, though that’s ultimately on the horizon. But sceptics doubt many Londoners will ever want to give up the ultimate flexibility and convenience of owning their own vehicles.

Debate rages about the viability of driverless cars, but Nissan tested the technology on London’s streets last month. Introducing automated cars could free up developable land in the capital, says engineering consultancy WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff, by reducing the need for parking — 6.8 million parking spaces take up 16 per cent of London’s streets the consultancy says, and cars in the UK are parked for 96 per cent of the time.

But change will be slow, forecasts Wolmar, and it may require more sophisticated, stiffer congestion charging to alter people’s behaviour.

“The key to health and prosperity is walking, cycling and the use of public transport and this is where investment should be made,” he adds.