Editing Pedestrian zone (section)

===1920s–1970s===
The first "pedestrianisation" of an existing street seems to have taken place "around 1929" in [[Essen]], Germany. This was in Limbecker Straße, a very narrow shopping street that could not accommodate both vehicular and pedestrian traffic.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www1.wdr.de/mediathek/video/sendungen/lokalzeit-ruhr/video-aelteste-fussgaengerzone-deutschlands-wird--und-befindet-sich-in-essen-100.html| url-status = dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171022215306/http://www1.wdr.de/mediathek/video/sendungen/lokalzeit-ruhr/video-aelteste-fussgaengerzone-deutschlands-wird--und-befindet-sich-in-essen-100.html| archive-date = 22 October 2017| title = Video: Älteste Fußgängerzone Deutschlands wird 90 und befindet sich in Essen - Lokalzeit Ruhr - Sendungen A-Z - Video - Mediathek - WDR}}</ref> Two other German cities followed this model in the early 1930s, but the idea was not seen outside Germany.<ref name="hall"/> Following the devastation of the Second World War a number of European cities implemented plans to pedestrianise city streets, although usually on a largely [[ad hoc]] basis, through the early 1950s, with little landscaping or planning.<ref name="hall"/> By 1955 twenty-one German cities had closed at least one street to automobile traffic, although only four were "true" pedestrian streets, designed for the purpose.<ref name="hall"/> At this time pedestrianisation was not seen as a [[traffic calming|traffic restraint]] policy, but rather as a complement{{clarify|date=July 2016}} to customers who would arrive by car in a city centre.<ref name="hall"/>

Pedestrianisation was also common in the United States during the 1950s and 60s as downtown businesses attempted to compete with new suburban shopping malls. However, most of these initiatives were not successful in the long term, and about 90% have been changed back to motorised areas.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Judge|first1=Cole|title=The Experiment of American Pedestrian Malls: Trends Analysis, Necessary Indicators for Success and Recommendations for Fresno's Fulton Mall|url=http://downtowndevelopment.com/pdf/americanpedmallexperiment.pdf|publisher=Fresno Future|access-date=19 June 2016}}</ref>