Birmingham and Paris Align with Europe’s Historic Cities as Pedestrianisation Sparks a New Era of Urban Tourism
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Birmingham Victoria Square offers a revealing window into historic city centre pedestrianisation, a transformation reshaping how travellers experience major urban destinations. The square was pedestrianised in 1993, replacing a traffic-dominated environment with a civic space built around walking, public art and events. Birmingham now welcomes more than 42 million people annually to its city centre, while later regeneration renewed 40,000 square metres of public realm. The experiment did not stop there. Manchester, London, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Paris are pursuing different versions of the same broader urban shift. Their experiences show that pedestrian priority can influence tourism, retail, mobility and public life, but can also create new pressures when visitor numbers rise sharply.
Birmingham’s Traffic Junction Becomes Visitor Gateway
Victoria Square provides the clearest historical starting point for understanding this urban shift. Birmingham City Council records that the square was pedestrianised and remodelled in 1993, with Dhruva Mistry’s monumental water feature installed as part of the transformation. The River, better known locally as the “Floozie in the Jacuzzi”, became an important visual landmark within the new civic setting.
The transformation also changed the function of the space. Instead of primarily facilitating vehicle movement, Victoria Square became a place for civic gatherings, public art, photographs, meetings and events. Birmingham’s landscape records show that the project won several design awards during the 1990s, including recognition for pedestrian design and public realm.
Three decades later, Birmingham invested again in the same urban geography. The wider regeneration programme secured £5 million from the Government’s Transforming Cities Fund and £20.478 million in corporate funding. The programme widened pedestrian areas, renewed paving and improved the connections around Victoria Square, Colmore Row and Waterloo Street.
| Birmingham public-realm milestone | Key figure |
|---|---|
| Victoria Square pedestrianised | 1993 |
| Wider public realm renewed | 40,000 sq m |
| Transforming Cities Fund contribution | £5 million |
| Corporate funding identified | £20.478 million |
| Annual city-centre visitors | More than 42 million |
| First major post-pedestrianisation upgrade | Nearly 30 years later |
The scale of the visitor economy explains why these physical changes matter to travel businesses. Birmingham’s current visitor strategy seeks to increase visitor numbers and length of stay while improving accessibility, sustainability and connections between the city centre and surrounding destinations.
Why Birmingham Had to Rebuild the Experience
Pedestrianisation alone does not automatically create a successful tourism district. The quality of the surrounding environment determines whether visitors simply pass through or actually remain in the area.
Birmingham’s more recent programme therefore focused on the details that travellers often notice without consciously identifying them. These include widened footways, kerb-free routes, better paving, clearer wayfinding and improved accessibility for people with mobility difficulties. The council also extended pedestrian restrictions and adjusted loading arrangements to balance visitor movement with business requirements.
That distinction matters for other historic destinations. Removing vehicles is only one stage of urban regeneration. A successful visitor environment also needs comfortable walking routes, attractive squares, seating, public transport connections, accessible crossings, hospitality space and reliable navigation.
The economic logic has become increasingly explicit in Birmingham. In October 2024, the council said the upgraded pedestrian zone could provide additional space for outdoor hospitality while giving pedestrians and cyclists greater priority. The project also incorporated permanent security infrastructure into the redesigned civic environment.
The city’s experience therefore suggests a broader formula: pedestrian space + public realm + hospitality + cultural programming + transport connectivity can create a more complete visitor proposition than pedestrianisation alone.
Manchester Puts Footfall Under the Microscope
Manchester provides one of the strongest numerical comparisons because its council publishes specific footfall figures for Market Street. The pedestrian zone records approximately 90,500 weekday visitors, rising to 147,500 on Saturdays and 67,200 on Sundays. Weekend footfall exceeds 200,000 on average.
The location also sits directly within the pedestrian movement network linking Manchester Piccadilly and Victoria stations with the retail core. Nearby Manchester Arndale attracts approximately 41 million visitors annually, according to the city council’s published information.
| Market Street indicator | Reported figure |
|---|---|
| Weekday footfall | 90,500 |
| Saturday footfall | 147,500 |
| Sunday footfall | 67,200 |
| Average weekend footfall | More than 200,000 |
| Manchester Arndale annual visitors | About 41 million |
These figures demonstrate why pedestrian streets can become important tourism infrastructure. They are not merely transport corridors. They connect stations, retail, dining, entertainment and public spaces within a compact visitor landscape.
Manchester is also planning beyond individual streets. Its City Centre Transport Strategy aims for 90% of morning peak trips to the centre to be made by walking, cycling or public transport by 2040. The strategy links pedestrian improvements with public transport capacity, accessibility, cleaner air and reduced reliance on private cars.
For travellers, this matters because a walkable centre works only when the wider transport system supports it. A pedestrian street disconnected from rail, tram and bus networks can simply move congestion elsewhere. Manchester is therefore treating walking as part of an integrated mobility system rather than an isolated streetscape project.
Copenhagen’s Six-Decade Urban Experiment
Copenhagen offers a much longer historical perspective. Strøget became a pedestrian street in 1962, creating a 1.1-kilometre walking corridor through the historic centre. Copenhagen subsequently expanded pedestrian-oriented public spaces across the central area.
The significance of Copenhagen lies in the duration of the experiment. Birmingham’s transformation dates from 1993, while Copenhagen began its major pedestrian intervention more than three decades earlier.
This creates an important lesson for travel destinations. The success of a pedestrian centre cannot always be measured immediately after construction. Urban behaviour evolves gradually as cafés, shops, cultural venues, events and public activities adapt to the new environment.
Copenhagen’s urban-space thinking has also moved beyond simply removing cars. Its municipal approach has increasingly focused on public life, including squares, meeting spaces, cafés, children’s activities and cultural uses. The street becomes an environment for staying rather than merely moving.
That distinction is crucial for tourism. Travellers rarely remember a city because they crossed a road quickly. They remember the square where they sat, the street performer they encountered, the café terrace beside a historic building or the public artwork that became part of their photographs.
London Turns a Global High Street Into Test Case
London provides a very different experiment because Oxford Street already operates as a global retail and tourism destination. The proposed transformation therefore asks whether pedestrian priority can strengthen an established commercial corridor rather than rescue an emerging one.
City Hall estimates Oxford Street’s annual economic contribution at £22.75 billion, while the first pedestrianisation phase between Orchard Street and Great Portland Street has been estimated at roughly £144 million to £150 million, depending on the published programme and assessment.
The numbers become particularly interesting when examining the 2025 traffic-free trial. City Hall reported that area footfall rose 45% compared with the previous week. Passenger numbers at nearby stations increased by about 25%, while nearly 70% of surveyed stores reported sales similar to or above a typical Sunday.
| Oxford Street indicator | Reported figure |
|---|---|
| Estimated annual economic contribution | £22.75bn |
| First-phase investment estimate | About £144m–£150m |
| Footfall during 2025 traffic-free event | +45% week-on-week |
| Nearby station passenger increase | About 25% |
| Stores reporting similar or higher sales | Nearly 70% |
The first permanent phase was scheduled for implementation in summer 2026, covering the section between Great Portland Street and Orchard Street. The scheme is designed to remove motorised traffic while retaining emergency access and overnight servicing for businesses.
However, London’s example also demonstrates why transport modelling matters. Officials have acknowledged potential impacts on surrounding roads, while traffic modelling has been used to assess changes on north-south routes. This is an important warning for other destinations considering similar schemes.
Amsterdam Shows When Tourism Becomes Too Dense
Amsterdam provides the essential counterpoint to the pedestrian-friendly city narrative. The city has built an internationally recognised walking environment, but tourism concentration has created measurable pressure in several neighbourhoods.
The latest municipal tourism-capacity research found that six neighbourhoods were under tourism-capacity pressure in 2025, one more than in 2023. The city defines pressure as a combination of high tourism intensity and unfavourable visitor-related liveability.
The wider visitor economy remains substantial. Amsterdam recorded an estimated 14 million tourist day visitors and 10 million overnight visitors in 2024, according to the city’s latest tourism dossier.
Retail composition also reveals the changing character of the centre. Amsterdam’s 2026 inner-city monitor found 1,893 shops in 2025, down from 2,057 in 2020. At the same time, visitor-oriented shops increased from 20% to 23% of inner-city shops.
| Amsterdam tourism indicator | Latest figure |
|---|---|
| Tourist day visitors, 2024 | About 14 million |
| Overnight visitors, 2024 | About 10 million |
| Neighbourhoods under tourism-capacity pressure, 2025 | 6 |
| Inner-city shops, 2025 | 1,893 |
| Visitor-oriented shops, 2025 | 23% |
The lesson for travellers is significant. A walkable centre can be exceptionally attractive while simultaneously becoming less comfortable for residents. Amsterdam’s approach shows why visitor management, dispersal and neighbourhood-level monitoring increasingly accompany urban tourism strategies.
Paris Connects Walking With Everyday Mobility
Paris takes the concept further by making pedestrian priority part of a broader mobility transformation. The city reported 101.5 kilometres of pedestrian streets in 2025, representing a 6.5% increase. Cycling volumes were also 47% higher than in 2020, while public transport usage increased across several modes between 2024 and 2025.
Paris also reports that walking accounts for around 65% of journeys within the city. Its pedestrian plan includes a target of creating an additional 100 hectares of pedestrianised space, alongside greener pavements, shade and new pedestrian neighbourhoods.
This matters because Paris demonstrates that pedestrian infrastructure is not necessarily a tourism product. It can function as basic urban infrastructure used by residents, commuters and visitors alike.
For tourists, the benefit is indirect but powerful. A city where walking forms a large share of everyday mobility allows visitors to experience museums, monuments, cafés, markets and neighbourhoods through a more continuous street-level journey.
What the Six Cities Reveal
Taken together, these cities show that there is no single model for transforming historic centres. Birmingham focuses on civic space and visitor welcome, Manchester combines walking with transport strategy, Copenhagen demonstrates long-term public-life planning, London tests pedestrianisation within a global retail district, Amsterdam manages tourism pressure, and Paris integrates walking into a wider mobility system.
| City | Principal lesson | Key evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Birmingham | Civic space can become visitor infrastructure | 42m+ annual city-centre visitors |
| Manchester | Pedestrian corridors can generate enormous footfall | 147,500 Saturday Market Street footfall |
| Copenhagen | Urban behaviour changes over decades | Strøget pedestrianised in 1962 |
| London | Major retail districts can test traffic-free models | 45% footfall increase during 2025 trial |
| Amsterdam | Visitor success can create liveability pressure | Six neighbourhoods under pressure in 2025 |
| Paris | Walking can become mainstream mobility | 101.5km pedestrian streets in 2025 |
The evidence also exposes a common misconception. Pedestrianisation is not synonymous with banning cars. The broader movement involves reallocating street space, improving public transport, creating safer crossings, widening pavements, adding greenery and making public spaces useful for longer periods.
That is why Birmingham’s current movement strategy seeks to reduce private-vehicle dominance while prioritising active travel and public transport. The objective is not simply to create isolated car-free pockets, but a more coherent city-centre network.
What This Means for Travellers
For visitors, the most important change is experiential. A redesigned historic centre can turn the journey between attractions into part of the destination itself.
Travellers should therefore look beyond individual landmarks when planning city breaks. Squares, pedestrian corridors, markets, station approaches and public-realm projects increasingly determine how easily visitors can combine attractions within a single walking itinerary.
There are practical benefits too. Pedestrian-priority districts can simplify short-distance journeys, create more outdoor dining opportunities and provide better access to public events. However, travellers should also expect diversions, altered taxi access, changed bus routes and delivery restrictions while major schemes are under construction.
Amsterdam offers another useful lesson. The most famous pedestrian districts are not necessarily the most comfortable at peak periods. Travellers can often improve their experience by visiting popular historic centres earlier in the day, exploring adjacent neighbourhoods and using public transport for longer connections.
The deeper shift is therefore not about making cities exclusively pedestrian. It is about redesigning the balance between movement and human experience.
The New Logic Behind Urban Tourism
The evolution from Birmingham in 1993 to current schemes across Europe suggests that historic centres are entering a different phase of urban tourism. The central question is no longer simply how many people a destination can attract.
Instead, cities increasingly need to ask how visitors move, where they linger, what they spend, how businesses benefit and whether residents can continue to use the same spaces comfortably.
Birmingham’s Victoria Square demonstrates the longevity of that challenge. A project conceived more than three decades ago has required further investment because visitor expectations, mobility patterns, security requirements and hospitality needs have changed.
The most durable urban centres may therefore be those that treat public space as tourism infrastructure, civic infrastructure and everyday infrastructure at the same time.
That is the emerging lesson from Birmingham, Manchester, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Paris and London. The future city centre may not be defined by how successfully it removes vehicles. It may instead be judged by how successfully it gives travellers, residents and businesses a place worth staying in.
