Road-centric

Road-centric describes a design, policy, or perspective that prioritizes roads and vehicular traffic above other modes of transportation, pedestrian accessibility, or environmental concerns. It often leads to urban planning that favors wide roads, expansive parking lots, and automobile dependence, potentially neglecting public transit, cycling infrastructure, and walkable neighborhoods. It reflects a belief in the primacy of cars for mobility and development, potentially leading to adverse effects on community interaction, air quality, and urban aesthetics.

Road-centric meaning with examples

• The city's road-centric planning, with its emphasis on highway construction, has resulted in a sprawling urban landscape. Residents now find themselves reliant on cars, contributing to heavy traffic congestion and reduced walkability. Efforts to improve public transit have been consistently sidelined.
• Many suburban developments exhibit road-centric layouts. Homes and businesses are designed around car access, limiting pedestrian and cyclist-friendly infrastructure. This emphasis promotes car dependency at the expense of other healthy active modes of transport.
• Advocates criticized the new traffic plan as fundamentally road-centric. The proposed changes included additional lanes for cars but no corresponding investment in bike lanes or pedestrian walkways, further discouraging alternative transportation options in the community.
• The environmental impact assessment revealed the new project's highly road-centric design. Its focus on asphalt expansion, and increase of car volume will degrade the surrounding environment and contribute to climate change.
• Developers and city planners need to consider road-centric planning's inherent social costs. It can erode community interaction and increase isolation due to reduced opportunities for face-to-face contact and shared spaces beyond those tied to driving.