Can London be the ‘world’s most walkable city’?

A-boards, bins, disused phone boxes, electric vehicle charge points, e-bikes and e-scooters can take up valuable pavement space and cause trip hazards. Even when pavements are free from clutter, broken paving slabs and raised or cracked paving also cause trip hazards. All these issues disproportionately affect older or Disabled people, who are also more likely to need places to stop, rest and shelter when walking and wheeling. 

Transport for London (TfL) set out its plan to make London the “world’s most walkable city” when it published its Walking Action Plan in 2018. The plan also set a target to increase the number of daily walking trips to 7.5 million by 2024.  Yet, there has been little to no progress in achieving this target since, with the number of walking trips in London having plateaued for the last seven years. 

In a report published today – ‘Quality streets: improving London’s pavements’ - the London Assembly Transport Committee calls for a range of measures aimed at improving the walkability of London’s streets and pavements.

Recommendations include:

• TfL should commission and publish research on the reasons behind the plateau in walking trips, as well as the barriers to wheeling, and use this as the basis for a new Walking and Wheeling Action Plan, to be published in 2026.
• TfL should include estimated daily wheeling trips as part of its annual ‘Travel in London’ reports.
• During 2026-2027, TfL should launch an awareness campaign for FixMyStreet and Streetcare, which encourages the public to use these tools to report instances of street clutter or damaged pavements and where these issues have caused them to be injured.

Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, Elly Baker AM, said:

“TfL is directly responsible for just 5 per cent of the 30,000 km of pavements in London and London’s Boroughs the rest. But TfL does possess a range of tools needed to help make walking and wheeling a pleasant, safer and more accessible experience for everyone across the whole network, which are currently being overlooked and underutilised.

“The number of daily walking trips taken in London has not increased in the last seven years. Unless TfL takes action now to make walking and wheeling a better experience for everyone, we fear these figures won’t increase; and we won’t realise the benefits of being the world’s most walkable city.

“It is time for TfL to be bolder and push further with the tools it has to de-clutter and repair London’s streets, alongside prioritising inclusive street designs.”