It's not easy gaining support for pedestrian-only streets. Here in Toronto, Kensington Market is a neighbourhood that has been under consideration for pedestrianization for as long as I can remember. Yet it remains an aspiration, largely because of a number of common objections: it will hurt local businesses, lower foot traffic, and limit access for those with mobility issues.
Yonge Street in downtown Toronto went through a similar debate, and the end result is a plan that will prioritize pedestrians, while still allowing one vehicle lane in each direction. This will still be a nice improvement, and my understanding is that the option to fully pedestrianize has been or will be designed in. Construction is expected to start on this in 2030, once the Ontario Line Queen subway station is complete.
But there are cities that are going all the way. This week, it was announced that London has approved the pedestrianization of Oxford Street, specifically the stretch between Orchard Street in the west and Great Portland Street in the east.
Oxford Street is one of the most important thoroughfares in the world, and one of, if not the, busiest shopping streets in Europe. It is estimated that nearly 500,000 people visit it each day, meaning that most are not travelling there by car.
Pedestrianizing Oxford is an idea that arguably dates back to the 1960s, when a plan was put forward to create pedestrian-only walkways on top of podiums; although, this may have been more about getting people out of the way of cars. Pedestrianizing the street was also a prominent part of Mayor Sadiq Khan's platform when he was first elected in 2016, some 10 years ago. So, it too has had its opponents.
However, consultations done last year showed that nearly two-thirds (63%) of Londoners were in favour of pedestrianizing the street — a figure that increased to almost three-quarters (72%) when the question was asked to people who had specifically visited the area within the last 12 months.
Data from similar pedestrianization projects completed around the world indicates that both foot traffic and retail sales should increase once the project is built out. And I have little doubt that the same will prove true here in London. If you can't pedestrianize a pre-eminent, transit-rich street in one of the world's capital cities, then where can you?
Cover photo from the Mayor of London
Map from Transport for London
Okay, so I haven't been (yet). But if you're an urbanist in search of a new city to check out, consider Pontevedra in northwestern Spain. Pontevedra is famous for its car-free city center. Starting in 1999, then-mayor Miguel Anxo Fernández Lores began making some radical changes to prioritize pedestrians and turnaround a city in decline. They'd still be considered radical today, so I can only imagine what they felt like back in the 90s.
The historic center of the city, which covers an area of about 300,000 m2 (or about 74 acres), was fully pedestrianized. The area surrounding it was also converted to a low-traffic zone, bringing the total size of the pedestrian-oriented area to more than 1.3 million m2 (or about 321 acres). To put this into perspective, High Park in Toronto is just under 400 acres.
The result is that vehicular traffic dropped by ~92% in the historic center and ~53% in the city as a whole. Today, walking accounts for over 65% of all trips and the average resident walks about 5 km per day (roughly equivalent to 6,000 to 7,500 steps). On top of this, over two-thirds of children now walk to school. And the city hasn't reported a single pedestrian death from cars in over a decade!
But how has the city performed economically since the change? Some 15,000 people have moved to the city since it became car-free and the total inventory of shops and restaurants has increased. It has also been reported that foot traffic went up (possibly by as much as 30%) and that retail vacancies dropped significantly. This is supported by research showing that well-designed pedestrianized areas do often drive higher retail sales.
Did you hear that Kensington Market?
This past Sunday, Paris voted in favor of greening and pedestrianizing an additional 500 streets in the capital (5-8 per neighborhood). This will add to the 300 or so streets that have already received this treatment since Mayor Hidalgo started her second term in 2020. And as a result of this expansion, it is estimated that about 10,000 on-street parking spaces will be removed, which represents about 10% of the city's total inventory.
Exciting. But who voted for this? Of the Parisians who voted, 66% voted in favor of the initiative. And it carried in 14 of 17 arrondissements (with the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th counted as one). But similar to prior referendums, voter turnout was extremely low: only 4.06% of eligible voters showed up (approximately 56,500 people). And this is after the voting age was lowered to 16 years old for the first time.
For context, when Paris voted on whether electric scooters should be banned, 7.46% of voters showed up. So while low, this situation is not entirely unique. Though it does, once again, raise the question of whether the outcome of this referendum truly reflects public opinion. My outsider view is that it probably does. Because I take the apathy to mean some level of support, or at the very least, an absence of strong aversion.
Think, for example, about who shows up at community meetings for new development projects. The vast majority of people in attendance have concerns they would like to air. It's very rare for someone to show up and say, "I didn't have much going on tonight so I decided to come by and see everyone. I have no real concerns. Project looks cool. Carry on as you were."
If you agree with this logic, well then it suggests that many/most Parisians do generally support more pedestrianized streets, even if it means the removal of parking. That's an accomplishment in my books.
It's not easy gaining support for pedestrian-only streets. Here in Toronto, Kensington Market is a neighbourhood that has been under consideration for pedestrianization for as long as I can remember. Yet it remains an aspiration, largely because of a number of common objections: it will hurt local businesses, lower foot traffic, and limit access for those with mobility issues.
Yonge Street in downtown Toronto went through a similar debate, and the end result is a plan that will prioritize pedestrians, while still allowing one vehicle lane in each direction. This will still be a nice improvement, and my understanding is that the option to fully pedestrianize has been or will be designed in. Construction is expected to start on this in 2030, once the Ontario Line Queen subway station is complete.
But there are cities that are going all the way. This week, it was announced that London has approved the pedestrianization of Oxford Street, specifically the stretch between Orchard Street in the west and Great Portland Street in the east.
Oxford Street is one of the most important thoroughfares in the world, and one of, if not the, busiest shopping streets in Europe. It is estimated that nearly 500,000 people visit it each day, meaning that most are not travelling there by car.
Pedestrianizing Oxford is an idea that arguably dates back to the 1960s, when a plan was put forward to create pedestrian-only walkways on top of podiums; although, this may have been more about getting people out of the way of cars. Pedestrianizing the street was also a prominent part of Mayor Sadiq Khan's platform when he was first elected in 2016, some 10 years ago. So, it too has had its opponents.
However, consultations done last year showed that nearly two-thirds (63%) of Londoners were in favour of pedestrianizing the street — a figure that increased to almost three-quarters (72%) when the question was asked to people who had specifically visited the area within the last 12 months.
Data from similar pedestrianization projects completed around the world indicates that both foot traffic and retail sales should increase once the project is built out. And I have little doubt that the same will prove true here in London. If you can't pedestrianize a pre-eminent, transit-rich street in one of the world's capital cities, then where can you?
Cover photo from the Mayor of London
Map from Transport for London
Okay, so I haven't been (yet). But if you're an urbanist in search of a new city to check out, consider Pontevedra in northwestern Spain. Pontevedra is famous for its car-free city center. Starting in 1999, then-mayor Miguel Anxo Fernández Lores began making some radical changes to prioritize pedestrians and turnaround a city in decline. They'd still be considered radical today, so I can only imagine what they felt like back in the 90s.
The historic center of the city, which covers an area of about 300,000 m2 (or about 74 acres), was fully pedestrianized. The area surrounding it was also converted to a low-traffic zone, bringing the total size of the pedestrian-oriented area to more than 1.3 million m2 (or about 321 acres). To put this into perspective, High Park in Toronto is just under 400 acres.
The result is that vehicular traffic dropped by ~92% in the historic center and ~53% in the city as a whole. Today, walking accounts for over 65% of all trips and the average resident walks about 5 km per day (roughly equivalent to 6,000 to 7,500 steps). On top of this, over two-thirds of children now walk to school. And the city hasn't reported a single pedestrian death from cars in over a decade!
But how has the city performed economically since the change? Some 15,000 people have moved to the city since it became car-free and the total inventory of shops and restaurants has increased. It has also been reported that foot traffic went up (possibly by as much as 30%) and that retail vacancies dropped significantly. This is supported by research showing that well-designed pedestrianized areas do often drive higher retail sales.
Did you hear that Kensington Market?
This past Sunday, Paris voted in favor of greening and pedestrianizing an additional 500 streets in the capital (5-8 per neighborhood). This will add to the 300 or so streets that have already received this treatment since Mayor Hidalgo started her second term in 2020. And as a result of this expansion, it is estimated that about 10,000 on-street parking spaces will be removed, which represents about 10% of the city's total inventory.
Exciting. But who voted for this? Of the Parisians who voted, 66% voted in favor of the initiative. And it carried in 14 of 17 arrondissements (with the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th counted as one). But similar to prior referendums, voter turnout was extremely low: only 4.06% of eligible voters showed up (approximately 56,500 people). And this is after the voting age was lowered to 16 years old for the first time.
For context, when Paris voted on whether electric scooters should be banned, 7.46% of voters showed up. So while low, this situation is not entirely unique. Though it does, once again, raise the question of whether the outcome of this referendum truly reflects public opinion. My outsider view is that it probably does. Because I take the apathy to mean some level of support, or at the very least, an absence of strong aversion.
Think, for example, about who shows up at community meetings for new development projects. The vast majority of people in attendance have concerns they would like to air. It's very rare for someone to show up and say, "I didn't have much going on tonight so I decided to come by and see everyone. I have no real concerns. Project looks cool. Carry on as you were."
If you agree with this logic, well then it suggests that many/most Parisians do generally support more pedestrianized streets, even if it means the removal of parking. That's an accomplishment in my books.
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