Car Parks or Play Parks?

How much of Berlin is designed for cars - and how much for children and nature?

Hans Hack has released an interactive map that offers a clear view of how urban space is allocated in Berlin. The tool compares the amount of urban space taken up by parking lots with that devoted to children’s playgrounds and other green spaces across Germany's capital.

By centering the map on any point in the city, Parking or Playground instantly shows how many square meters within a 1,000-meter radius are allocated to parking, playgrounds, and green space - offering a neat snapshot of Berlin’s spatial priorities.

For those looking to escape cars altogether, Hans Hack offers another interactive map: Retreats Away From Berlin’s Streets. The project maps the quietest corners of the city by identifying places that are farthest from road traffic.

By exploring the map, users can see the point within each city block that lies at the greatest distance from streets used by cars. Circular markers visualize this distance, with larger circles indicating more secluded, traffic-free retreats.

A “Top Neighborhoods” view highlights the single most traffic-distant location in each Berlin district.

If you don’t live in Berlin, you can use the Parkulator interactive map to explore how much of your own neighborhood is dedicated to parking lots. Parkulator is a mapping tool that lets users see how much land in their town is allocated to parking, as well as to golf courses, brownfield sites, solar installations, or parks.

By drawing an area directly on the map, users can calculate how much of that land is taken up by parking lots - or by other selected land uses. Parkulator also estimates how much housing or how many parks could be built on an equivalent area of land instead.

Via: weeklyOSM