In recent years we could see trials with pedestrian zones in cities around the world. The New York “Plaza’s” are very successful and spreading. Other cities are lagging behind, or they are just waking up, like London, where “Problems with congestion, pollution and safety need to be resolved”. Pedestrianization would help there. In the Netherlands almost all cities already have a pedestrianized city centre. That isn’t a recent development: they have had these areas for decades. How did that happen?

Today 49 years ago, the 6th of November 1965, Utrecht started a large-scale experiment with car free shopping streets. The national press followed it with great interest and even the news service for the cinemas reported about it. That is the reason why I can now show you very interesting moving images. The experiment was a big success and this eventually led to all those car…