Life in the Slow Lane

THE PRETTIEST STREETS IN EDINBURGH ARE CLOSED TO MOTORISED TRAFFIC. IS A PEDESTRIAN FUTURE AFOOT HERE AND IN OTHER UNESCO SITES?

- BHAKTI MATHEW

There’s something missing from the usual scene at the 17thcentury Holyrood Palace, once home to the tragic Mary, Queen of Scots: a snaking line of taxis and tourist buses parked out front.

Edinburgh’s city council recently voted to make Victoria and Cockburn streets—two of Old Town’s busiest, most picturesque byways—pedestrian-only zones. The move, aimed at promoting social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic and giving restaurants more space for outdoor dining, is emblematic of Edinburgh’s ambitious new “City Centre Transformation” plan, which hopes to bring miles of new tramlines, protected bike lanes, and walking routes by 2022.

During the pandemic, multiple urban areas have repurposed roadways for pedestrians, from the “streeteries” that bring restaurant seating on to New York City boulevards to the pop-up bike lanes temporarily added to Paris’s already robust network of protected pistes cyclables.

For cities holding UNESCO World Heritage Sites (like Edinburgh’s medieval Old Town and 18th-century New Town) prioritising “slow traffic” is an attempt to mitigate the damage of overtourism and sustain the historic character that attracts visitors in the first place.