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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Philip Oltermann in Berlin

Berlin’s plan for a car-free city prompts bitter war of words

Wide roads in Berlin make cycling popular and relatively safe
Wide roads in Berlin make cycling popular and relatively safe. Photograph: Frank Heinz/Alamy

Many visitors to Graefekiez, a lively cobbled-road neighbourhood just south of Berlin’s centre, come in search of something new: a tattoo from an authentic Japanese parlour, a rare print from an off-grid gallery, a dive-bar encounter over a 4am beer.

This summer, they can brace themselves for another novelty: for at least three months, local authorities are planning to scrap almost all of the neighbourhood’s parking spaces as part of a social experiment designed to chart the waters of the German capital’s car-free future.

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