A joint planning committee of Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council has approved a 425-flat development, the Cambridge North Residential Quarter, with just 22 car parking spaces but 711 bicycle spaces for residents. The decision has drawn sharp criticism, with opponents arguing the scheme is unrealistic given that roughly half to two-thirds of Cambridge residents currently own cars, and that no comparable UK development has achieved car ownership levels low enough to make the ratio workable.

Developers, including a joint venture involving National Rail, argued the site's proximity to a train station reduced the need for parking and offered residents an "exceptional opportunity" to travel by public transport, foot or bicycle. Critics, including Conservative councillor Richard Williams, called the plan "bizarre" and "shocking", noting the closest comparable scheme he could find, in Soho, central London, still had 8 per cent car ownership among residents. Local objectors, including the parish council in nearby Milton, fear residents' cars will simply be pushed onto surrounding streets, while online critics likened the development to a future "ghetto" and questioned how tradespeople and delivery drivers would access the site. The scheme follows other contested Cambridge transport decisions, including a train station built without car parking and a complex Dutch-style roundabout blamed for increasing accidents.