Discussion

MR J. H. EARP, London Transport International

In 1972, Wilfred Owen contributed a paper, entitled 'Transportation and the urban future1, to a similar conference at Southampton University, in which was stated: 'Mobility is no guarantee for liveability'. He warned that 'cities are being built and rebuilt with the technology at hand1, and that 'in the future, man could live where he wished and communicate to work'. The real solution lay with 'the willingness of society to pay for changes that are required'; but that, essentially, the choice was society's. Mr Owen's keynote address at this conference has reiterated his earlier thoughts, the only difference being that they now apply to developing countries and not only to European cities.