If we make cities easier to walk in, then more people will walk. We can induce demand for walking in much the same way we induce vehicle traffic on to our streets if they are given over to cars.
Pedestrianising Oxford Street is an opportunity to create a first-class place all Londoners will want to visit, including those arriving on public transport and those who live close by.
Oxford Street is formerly the northern limit of the old city of Westminster and the southern boundary of Marylebone. Today the neighbourhoods of Fitzrovia, Marylebone, Mayfair and Soho continue to see Oxford Street as a hard boundary. But it should be a valued asset, somewhere to shop, stop and even play for people from both near and far.
All major candidates to be mayor of London in 2016 promised to pedestrianise Oxford Street. Despite forming a world-famous retail destination, it is one of the most dangerous roads in London in terms of deaths and serious injuries, as well as one of the most polluted streets in the country.
