According to official figures from 2021, there are 812 passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants in Warsaw and this number is steadily increasing. This is a much higher percentage than in many European capitals. The number of cars has a huge impact on the shape of our streets. For years there has been pressure to create new parking spaces and add more lanes, supposedly to ease traffic jams. Nothing of the sort has happened. Widening of roadways paradoxically leads to an increase in the number of cars on the road, which in turn leads to more congestion and longer travel times. It is high time to recognise the laws of physics. Urban space is not made of rubber and has a certain capacity. Occupying it with new lanes or car parks will reduce the space for pedestrians, cyclists and street greenery. The cause of traffic jams or difficulties in finding parking spaces is solely due to the fact that there are too many cars in the city.

Jan Mencwel, Kaja Kusztra, Michał Grzymała

Michał Grzymała is an architect, graduate of the Faculty of Architecture at the Warsaw University of Technology and the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia. Designer of exhibitions and interactive exhibits at the Copernicus Science Centre in Warsaw. He develops new ways of telling stories and conveying information. Lives and works in Warsaw.

Kaja Kusztra is a designer and visual artist. She works as a teacher at the Faculty of Graphic Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow in the Visual Communication studio. She is co-founder and member of the Solidarny Dom Kultury "Słonecznik" ("Sunflower" Solidarity Culture Centre), which was established at the Warsaw Museum of Modern Art in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Her work often features a theme of opposition to the commodification of knowledge.