PLANNING FOR A SUSTAINABLE EUROPE? - TU Berlin

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increasing congestion, air pollution, natural resource depletion, accidents and dominance
of a road lobby, he concludes that critics distort the situation and that all these problem
are solvable, preferably by building new, state-of-the art infrastructures. To him,
modernization certainly means increasing automobilization, since “the car is an
extraordinary key to freedom and quality of life.” His positivist belief in technical
progress is unfailing:
Of course, it would be absurd to deny the existence of harmful effects linked to the use
of road vehicles. But in areas such as air pollution, they are now often grossly
exaggerated. In fact, the problem is now being solved, as remarkable progress has
been made by vehicle manufacturers.... Why should air quality be the only area where
technological progress does not yield results?
A similar attitude is apparent in the publication “Towards More Rational
Transport Policies in Europe” by Achim Diekmann (1995:11):
In a few years time, pollution by motor vehicles will have ceased to be a major
problem and there will be sizeable cuts in fuel consumption as well. … Mobility must
no longer be discriminated against. On the contrary, it has again to be seen as a
positive, dynamic element in our society, as a provider of growth and welfare.
It is typical for such positivist believers in technological progress to claim that
their own views are non-ideological, and strictly based on “objective” evaluation of the
facts. Excerpts from Gerondeau’s concluding paragraph reveal an interesting,
“objectivizing” opinionatedness:
There is then the risk that decisions are made based on ideological aphorisms. But
ideology should have no place in transport policy. ... Means of transport are only tools.
... The things that count are services rendered ... and the financial side of the issue, as
one of the first duties of any public or private service is to not squander resources. ...
It is a question of making the best possible decisions objectively and on the basis on
facts and not opinions. ... All that really counts is the happiness of the people and the
proper functioning of the economy, which is one of its conditions.
(Gerondeau 1997 pp. 299-300, emphasis added)