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How Self-Driving Cars will Destroy Cities (and what to do about it)

Not Just Bikes · commentary · Watch on YouTube

Transit, cities & urban planningSelf-driving & autonomous vehicles

What it is

Not Just Bikes argues that self-driving cars will worsen sprawl and car dependence and harm cities. The video compares car-centered and people-centered urban design and weighs what cities should do instead.

Why Hacker News recommends it

Frequently recommended in autonomous vehicle and Waymo threads as the main counterargument, a long but worthwhile video essay on how self-driving cars could affect cities.

  • 17 people recommended it
  • 12 different months
  • 5 strong recommendations
  • first 2024, last 2026

What HN commenters said

  1. “Well worth to watch 'Not Just Bikes' new video”

    Worth watching on how self-driving cars harm cities.

    panick21_, 2024-11 · Strong recommendation · in “Waymo One is now open to all in Los Angeles”

  2. “It's long, but well worth an hour of your time.”

    Long but worth an hour; a horrifying self-driving dystopia.

    drewr, 2024-11 · Strong recommendation · in “Waymo One is now open to all in Los Angeles”

  3. “Building cities for people first is what will improve our lives. Watch”

    Cities built for people improve lives, not self-driving cars.

    k99x55, 2024-12 · Strong recommendation · in “Waymo will bring autonomous vehicles to Tokyo”

  4. “I highly recommend watching the notjustbike video on autonomous vehicles.”

    A plausible path to dystopia following lobbying incentives.

    gpm, 2025-10 · Strong recommendation · in “Traffic lights with four colors and a new white light are coming”

  5. “this video below is really worth watching before we all swallow as an axiom the idea that autonomous cars are going to be a good thing”

    Worth watching before accepting autonomous cars as good.

    abraxas, 2026-02 · Strong recommendation · in “Beginning autonomous operations with the 6th-generation Waymo Driver”

  6. “Let's not normalize yet another corporate attempt to privatize urban mobility”

    Argues against corporate privatization of urban mobility.

    rglullis, 2024-11 · Recommendation · in “Waymo One is now open to all in Los Angeles”

  7. “NotJustBikes discusses this well here”

    Discusses second-order effects of self-driving cars on sprawl and walkers.

    CalRobert, 2024-12 · Recommendation · in “A comparison to Waymo’s auto liability insurance claims at 25M miles”

  8. “this enlightening video mapping out a possible future where self-driving cars have dominance.”

    Maps a possible future dominated by self-driving cars.

    shinryuu, 2025-01 · Recommendation · in “Man trapped inside driverless car as it spins in circles”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: urban planning, autonomous vehicles, car dependence, public transport, sprawl

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