Porto is Portugal’s second largest city and one of Europe’s oldest cities, therefore a pedestrianised Porto, would preserve its heritage as “most historic roads are not designed for an influx of heavy traffic”. The city has been looking into this, although, according to CIVITAS (an EU-funded initiative to create cleaner, better transport in cities) “transport policy was focused on widening roads in the past”. Now the focus is on better public transport and creating safe routes for pedestrians and cyclists. This was exemplified last year for “a day in June, where residents were able to enjoy car-free zones, as 16 streets in the Downtown and Historic Centre of the city were pedestrianised”.

In addition to Porto, people were also keen on making a lot of Lisbon’s roads car-free. Some followers suggested Avenida da Liberdade, one of Lisbon’s most famous shopping havens. Extraordinarily, the road has 10 lanes of traffic, but is divided in multiple places by parks, mosaic pavements, and strips of monuments. As far as non-pedestrianised spaces go, it does a good job of looking fairly green but it seems a lot of our followers would prefer it to go fully car-free. The other six cities that people would love to go car-free are London (specifically Oxford Street), Manchester, Athens, Milan, Los Angeles and New York.

Overall, the study also found that whilst going car-free would be incredible for humans and the planet, accessibility would have to be fully considered. “While car-free streets are great, if poorly implemented it can leave some people unable to move through a city, particularly disabled people or those with mobility issues. It is particularly essential that they are implemented alongside truly accessible public transport where everyone’s ability to navigate a city is considered.”