North America Needs a New Model for Pedestrian-Friendly Planning

Where pedestrian-only streets have failed to draw business, the problem may be a failure to think big enough.

2 minute read

September 15, 2015, 11:00 AM PDT

By Emily Calhoun


The city of Buenos Aires has transformed a 20-lane congested highway into an 80-block multi-modal downtown avenue with dedicated bus lanes, plenty of space for walkers, and green space. Daily commute times have been cut in half for 200,000 bus passengers. Car access to these renovated streets is limited to local residents with parking passes. The speed limit for local car traffic is 10 km.

The Sustainable Mobility Plan for the city of nearly 3 million residents and 4 million commuters and tourists "rethinks the value and use of public spaces for citizens, not simply as areas reserved for transport services and connections, but as areas of mobility for citizens," according to the state's website.

Robert Everett-Green argues that similar attempts to pedestrianize streets in Canada have failed because they assumed that only highly commercial/retail zones would be appropriate for pedestrianization. A look at the Buenos Aires experience immediately exposes the weakness of most North American attempts at pedestrianization: that they are too narrowly focused on a few blocks of one street, with little thought given to the broader ecology of public space and transport," he writes. The head of transportation in Buenos Aires, Guillermo Dietrich "says the city was not swayed by the conventional wisdom that pedestrian zones only work in strong retail and nightlife zones," according to Everett-Green.

Everett-Green points out that pedestrian-only zones–such as a four-block stretch of Ottawa's Sparks Street–are too limited in scope. Adding planter boxes to a small zone where more than half the streetscape is populated by public works buildings is an insufficient strategy for appealing to pedestrians, he writes. In contrast, another 20 blocks are planned for the pedestrian-friendly zone on Avenida 9 de Julio in Buenos Aires, and spaces formerly used by parking lots are being repurposed for retail and residential development, suggesting that transit innovation can spur mixed use development.

Wednesday, August 26, 2015 in The Globe and Mail

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 16, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Green vintage Chicago streetcar from the 1940s parked at the Illinois Railroad Museum in 1988.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails

Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

July 13, 2025 - WTTV

Blue and silver Amtrak train with vibrant green and yellow foliage in background.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail

The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

July 14, 2025 - Smart Cities Dive

Worker in yellow safety vest and hard hat looks up at servers in data center.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power

Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

July 18 - Inside Climate News

Former MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood standing in front of MARTA HQ with blurred MARTA sign visible in background.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns

MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

July 18 - WABE

Rendering of proposed protected bikeway in Santa Clara, California.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant

A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.

July 17 - San José Spotlight