London’s Oxford Street, one of Britain’s busiest and most famous shopping districts, will be pedestrianised, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan says, in a move designed to smarten up the area and create a new public space to help drive growth.
The plan to rid Oxford Street of cars and buses, which has been over 20 years in the making, looks set to become a reality after consultations on proposals published in September showed a majority of Londoners and businesses back the idea.
Supporters of pedestrianising the 1.6km-long stretch in central London say similar traffic-free schemes for Times Square in New York and La Rambla in Barcelona have breathed new life into tired areas.
“We want to rejuvenate Oxford Street; establish it as a global leader for shopping, leisure and outdoor events with a world-class, accessible, pedestrianised avenue,” Khan said in a statement announcing the results of the public consultation.
Oxford Street attracts around half a million visitors every day, according to the mayor’s office, but many flagship stores including House of Fraser and Topshop have shut in recent years, and Khan said the area had been neglected.
“Oxford Street was once the jewel in the crown of Britain’s retail sector, but there’s no doubt that it has suffered hugely over the last decade”, Khan said last year.
The mayor will now work with the UK government on legislation to go traffic-free, which would happen “as quickly as possible”. That will require finding new routes for the dozens of buses which travel down it each hour.
The government has said Khan’s plan for a new “beautiful public space” which will attract more tourists, drive new investment in the area and create jobs.
Australian Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national newswire and has been delivering accurate, reliable and fast news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We keep Australia informed.
