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Plans Approved to Pedestrianize London's Oxford Street

Will this regenerate the area or make it a hub for criminal activity?
Plans Approved to Pedestrianize London's Oxford Street
Above: Shoppers seen on London's Oxford Street on Jan. 4. Image credit: Mike Kemp/In Pictures/Getty Images

The Spin

Left narrative

While some have raised issues around a possible increase in congestion, the results from public consultations and conversations with local business indicate widespread support for these changes. They will make Oxford Street a world-leading urban space for shopping, leisure and outdoor events, and serve as a further legacy for Khan, who continues radically progressing and reforming London for the better.

Right narrative

Aside from the impact on traffic and bus services, a pedestrianized zone is going to create unprecedented new risks by making the area a magnet for gangs and criminals. This will only increase issues with shoplifting, assaults and anti-social behavior, which are already soaring on the street. This is yet another vanity project that will punish working Londoners, especially cabbies, while Khan falsely claims to have altered the capital for the better.

Metaculus Prediction



Political split

LEFT

RIGHT



© 2026 Improve the News Foundation. All rights reserved.Version 6.18.0

© 2026 Improve the News Foundation.

All rights reserved.

Version 6.18.0