As well as providing improved transport for all, AV technology could deliver important economic benefits. According to the UK Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV), the AV market in the UK could be worth between £52 billion and £62 billion by 2035, capturing around 6 per cent of the £907 billion global market, and creating tens of thousands of jobs (CCAV UK, 2020).

The primary and immediate benefit of a city center dominated by AVs is the reduction of traffic and accidents. Around thirty percent of city center traffic — caused by drivers searching for parking — could be eliminated. AVs would also facilitate the removal of unnecessary parking and redevelopment of car parks, which have the potential – at typical density of 25 to 50 dwellings per hectare – to introduce hundreds of thousands of new homes without infrastructure upheaval. City centers, in particular, hinge on the development of what the study calls an “AV zone.” This space within a city designated solely for shared AV use where no traditional cars are allowed would provide 15-20% additional developable area when compared to a standard urban center based on New York, Paris, Vienna, Boston, and Hong Kong. Based on information from the Department for Communities and Local Government, a 100 hectare AV zone in the heart of London could generate a £1.25 billion land value uplift, while outer London could experience a £300 million land value uplift with £15-£75 million across much of the rest of the country (Skinner and Bidwell, 2016). London city has already designated a ‘congestion zone’ within which drivers must pay a congestion charge as a measure to combat air pollution — a problem an electric AV zone, going on the assumption that AVs would be electric, could also address (Transport for London).

The transformation of parking spaces in London has already begun. Peckham Levels in south London, once 7 stories of underused parking garage space, was remodeled by Turner Works in 2017 into a community space. The remodeled building now holds 50 studios, open workshops and co-working spaces, art studios, a yoga studio, restaurants, a marketspace, and a kid’s play area (Turner.Works). Other, less populated areas of the UK are likewise reconsidering their parking spaces in favor of housing, for example South Somerset recently earmarked under-utilized parking lots in it’s town center to become housing (Malloy 2019).

Year