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London: Oxford Street, the shopping destination, becomes pedestrianised

It is the most radical transformation of the capital’s urban landscape since part of Trafalgar Square was closed to traffic in 2003

by Nicol Degli Innocenti

26 October 2026

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Londra, Oxford Street da lunedì chiusa al traffico: si vuole rilanciare la via dello shopping

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

LONDON – From today, half of Oxford Street – Europe’s busiest shopping street, visited by 500,000 people every day – is becoming a pedestrian zone. After years of protests, delays and controversy, the project dear to Mayor Sadiq Khan has become a reality: cars, taxis, lorries, motorbikes, electric scooters and even bicycles will be banned. It is the most radical transformation of the capital’s urban landscape since part of Trafalgar Square was closed to traffic in 2003.

“This ambitious project was far from easy to carry out,” said Khan. “But today it marks just the beginning of a much broader transformation and the first step towards a bright new future for this historic street, which has always managed to reinvent itself.”

Sindaco Londra inaugura Oxford Street pedonalizzata: "Giorno storico"

A first step

The car ban currently covers around one kilometre of road, from Orchard Street – where the Selfridges department store is located – to Great Portland Street, a stone’s throw from Oxford Circus. If this first phase proves successful, Khan’s plan is to extend the pedestrianisation scheme to the whole of Oxford Street – which is almost two kilometres long.

The first proposals to turn Oxford Street into a pedestrianised area date back to the 1960s. In 1973, the nearby Carnaby Street – which had become famous precisely as a symbol of that era, the ‘Swinging London’ of the Beatles and Mary Quant – was made pedestrianised and has remained so ever since, with great success, always bustling with both tourists and Londoners.

The process has been more complicated for Oxford Street. When Khan first stood for mayor in 2016, he had included the pedestrianisation project in his manifesto, but after his election the plan was blocked by Westminster Council, the local authority responsible for the area. In the years that followed, several Conservative governments had opposed the move.

Svolta storica per Londra, il cuore di Oxford Street è pedonale

Mayor Khan’s ‘mission’

Khan continued his mission to make London greener and improve air quality by restricting access to the city for polluting lorries and cars, creating more cycle lanes and closing many roads to traffic. It was not until 2024, however, when he became the first mayor to be elected for a third term, that Khan managed to return to office on Oxford Street. A public consultation carried out in 2025 showed that public opinion was on his side: 66 per cent of those surveyed said they were in favour of making the major shopping street car-free.

A £150 million project has therefore begun to lay the groundwork, establishing new routes for buses and taxis, with stops no more than 200 metres from Oxford Street so as not to disadvantage disabled people, the elderly and those with mobility difficulties. The project includes numerous benches where passers-by can rest in the shade of the 50 trees that are to be planted. Efforts have been made to reassure shopkeepers, who feared losing customers: the street, a mix of department stores and shops of all kinds, accounts for 5 per cent of London’s GDP.

Surveys clearly showed that Oxford Street was very busy but not particularly popular, precisely because of the noise, the chaos, the crowds and the traffic from taxis and buses (private cars had been banned way back in 1972). One of the objectives is to improve air quality: a 2014 study found that nitrogen dioxide pollution levels were the highest in the world.

Today, Oxford Street is becoming greener and more people-friendly: it remains to be seen over the coming months whether this will strengthen or undermine its position as Europe’s number one shopping destination.