The London mayor has big plans for the famous shopping street. We look at how similar schemes in Paris, New York and Barcelona have fared
From the rooftop of London’s original John Lewis, the mayor, Sadiq Khan, never knowingly underselling himself, laid out the changes in store for the Oxford Street below: “We want this street to overperform … We want a public realm that is world class, green, healthy and safe – but also increases footfall in the shops.”
Unveiling a £150m plan earlier this week to ban all traffic on the capital’s famous shopping street, the mayor suggested that the West End shopping thoroughfare could be revived to rival Times Square, La Rambla or the Champs-Élysées.