How to Pedestrianize a Vital Urban Street

Finally, it’s happening. After years of discussion, London’s Oxford Street is being pedestrianized. A key London axis known for its huge popularity as a place to shop—and its equally huge pollution problem—Oxford Street has endured for years as a notorious fume trap because it’s such a vital corridor for buses. As you might imagine, tidying up has been a logistical headache. But if it works here, the plan could become a template for any city that wants to turn a busy thoroughfare into car-free zone.

By the end of next year, 800 meters (about half a mile) of the street will be barred to vehicles. The remaining sections are set to be pedestrianized in two stages in the years following. This street is so busy, and so central, that many people doubt the change is even possible—but the long-building city-led push for change, powered in part by shaming pollution figures that step far beyond EU-prescribed guidelines, is finally creating action. To understand how pedestrianization can happen here, it’s well worth looking at how London is managing the Oxford Street challenge.