The contradiction of Demotorisation: a Literature Argument

Abstract

This paper is aimed at outlining the flexibility of capitalist consumption (Harvey, 1990) through a review of literature that has condemned the modernist era of the automobile for its consumerist tendencies but has failed to recognise that this flexibility of capitalism has been re-invented through demotorisation as a new tool for consumer culture. Demotorisation here is used to refer to the removal or partial removal of cars from roads and replacing it with cycling and walking. The research employs a review of theoretical as well as secondary empirical analysis. It must be emphasised that this paper is not aimed at discrediting demotorisation of streets but rather to point its postmodern nuances.

Key Words: Demotorisation, Pedestrianisation, Consumerism, Automobile, Cycling, gentrification.