Carspreading: reclaiming city streets from oversized cars

Ziele/Ideen

Carspreading is innovative because it turned a technical transport problem — the growth of larger, heavier and more dangerous vehicles — into a clear public issue that citizens, journalists and politicians can understand and act on. The campaign created a new, memorable frame for “autobesity”: Carspreading, when cars crowd out the rest of us. It combined original analysis on vehicle size, weight, bonnet height and parking-space incompatibility with powerful imagery, grassroots stories and policy advocacy. Rather than treating SUVs only as a climate issue, it connected road danger, child safety, public space, air pollution, fairness and municipal finance. This helped make oversized cars a mainstream political issue, with national media coverage, local petitions, council deputations, policy conferences and concrete city action.Carspreading shows how a campaign can change the politics of urban space: by making vehicle size visible, measurable and politically actionable, it gives cities a

Kurzbeschreibung

Carspreading is a public campaign by Clean Cities that helps cities respond to the rapid growth of oversized SUVs and heavier cars. These vehicles take up more public space, increase road danger, worsen emissions and make streets less safe and accessible, especially for children, older people, disabled people, pedestrians and cyclists. The campaign combines original research, striking public communications, media work, grassroots mobilisation and policy advocacy to support fairer parking charges and other measures that discourage oversized vehicles in cities. In its first year, Carspreading helped secure two major UK policy breakthroughs: the London Assembly passed a cross-party motion calling on the Mayor of London to curb carspreading, and Cardiff became the first UK council to commit to higher parking fees for heavier vehicles from April 2026. The model is now inspiring action in other cities.

Resultate

Carspreading has already achieved major results. The London Assembly passed a cross-party motion calling on the Mayor of London to curb carspreading and consider higher parking charges. Cardiff City Council became the first UK council to commit to higher parking fees for heavier vehicles, to be introduced in April 2026. The campaign helped Lambeth Council commit to commission research into SUV road danger with two other London boroughs. It generated major national media coverage, including BBC TV and radio, The Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, Sky News and The Observer. A BBC article explicitly using “Carspreading” reached 3.5 million views and more than 4,000 comments. The campaign also supported local petitions, council deputations and a European webinar attended by 200 city officials and campaigners. Further city adoption is expected.

Partner

Urban Movement Innovation Fund: Funder
AdFree Cities / SUV Alliance: Campaign coordination and advocacy
Kidical Mass London: Child-friendly streets mobilisation
Mums for Lungs: Health and parent mobilisation
Solve the School Run: Grassroots mobilisation and local advocacy