Henrietta Moore & Arthur Kay: The True Cost of Cars

The Century of Cities welcomes Henrietta Moore, Founder and Director of the Institute for Global Prosperity, and Arthur Kay, Senior Advisor at Innovo Group and board member at Transport for London. Together, they unpack their new book Roadkill: Unveiling the True Cost of Our Toxic Relationship with Cars, a powerful exploration of how our dependence on cars shapes our health, cities, and future. From the exponential rise in global car ownership since 1980 to the ripple effects on climate, inequality, and urban design, Henrietta and Arthur reveal how car culture has quietly become one of the most expensive and destructive addictions of our time. They share examples from Los Angeles to Lagos, Dallas to Delhi, showing how communities are reclaiming streets, re-imagining mobility, and redefining freedom in urban life. As we look toward 2080, they challenge us to imagine cities built not around vehicles, but around people, where prosperity is measured not by how fast we drive, but by how freely we move.