Livable cities: What is the state of pedestrianization in Canada?

This is part of an ongoing series at the Lookout as we explore how to create more livable cities. It’s an opportunity to understand what’s going in your own city, and learn from places across Canada and around the world. The Montreal and Vancouver sections were written by Nate Lewis, while Ottawa was written by Robert Hiltz.

Cities and urban residents are facing a range of challenges, chief among them the rising price of land (which can be both boon and curse as we see here in Vancouver), aging infrastructure coupled with massive funding deficits, and creeping privatization of the public realm. 

Core to the question of what we want our cities to be like is, how do we create more livable communities? How can we create spaces and neighbourhoods where people can live and grow with their families and friends in relative ease and comfort?

One of the philosophical shifts in city building that’s gaining more attention in North American cities — particularly during and following the pandemic — is the idea of pedestrianization. A quick search to define the term yields a narrow set of results, emphasizing a lack of cars. 

While removing free flowing traffic from plazas, malls, high streets, or lanes is a basic prerequisite of pedestrianization, it’s not only about the absence of cars. Creating a vibrant and inviting pedestrian space requires other infrastructure, like seating, shade, public access to water, and even entertainment. 

In my opinion, these sorts of areas where people can gather in public, and are free and accessible to all, are a key piece in creating a liveable, welcoming city and imbue a sense of calm and relaxation that can be elusive in many urban spaces. 

In part one of our series on pedestrianization our team here at the Lookout has pulled together examples of how some major cities across Canada are using their road space in creative ways. Our ranked list below highlights some of the programs and policies in Montréal, Vancouver, and Ottawa that encourage (or discourage) people from getting out in urban public spaces. 

Montréal

Montréal has opened 10 high streets, plus a plaza, for pedestrians to walk without vehicle traffic throughout the city. Half of the streets have been open since May, while the other half are opening in June.  

The city’s program will create more than 9 km of pedestrianized streets this summer. 

Montréal takes two street design approaches to pedestrianization: 

• Pedestrian streets — Pedestrian priority areas. Self-powered transportation like bikes, skateboards, roller blades and push scooters are allowed at slow speeds. No motor vehicle access. 

• Shared streets — Open to motor vehicles, as well as bikes and other transportation forms. Pedestrians have “absolute priority” in these areas and the vehicle speed limit is 20 km/h. 

The walking streets will run all summer long, concluding in September and October depending on location. The Plaza Saint-Hubert will be car-free from July 4 to Aug. 25. 

“Such configurations allow for public areas to be shared more efficiently, for enhanced pedestrian safety and comfort, and contribute to the city’s vitality. Pedestrian streets improve the quality of life in our neighbourhoods and encourage local purchases,” according to the city of Montréal. 

However, closing streets to cars is just one way to encourage more pedestrian traffic. This can also be accomplished through urban design, by orienting public space toward sidewalks and away from roads.

One example of this in Montréal is Sainte Catherine West, one of the city’s major commercial streets. There’s been a significant investment here by the city into updating the streetscape (and replacing underground infrastructure). Areas near Mount Royal and McGill University have been pedestrianized to various degrees, highlighted by widened sidewalks and diminished road and parking space.  

The second phase of that project is now underway, after the first phase was completed in 2023 at the projected cost of $123 million. 

Additionally, another five block section of the street is closed to cars for seven months, while nearby Sainte Catherine East is pedestrian-only for six months. Meanwhile, other streets are pedestrianized year-round. 

One of the city’s first pedestrian streets, Prince Arthur, was criticized by some for its poor urban design, and for being merely a transportation corridor that was uninviting to gather in. However, the street was redesigned in 2017, with the city adding furniture, meeting spaces, and entertainment spaces, among other upgrades. 

Elsewhere, a pedestrian mall was installed in the city’s Chinatown neighbourhood in the 1980s. 

Vancouver

Here in Vancouver, the city is piloting a car-free and car-light area for two months on Water Street in the Gastown neighbourhood. 

We covered some of this in a previous newsletter, including complaints from the local BIA about construction related to the project, but I wanted to highlight the two types of pedestrianized space that will be featured in this pilot. 

The car-free area comprises one city block, located between Cordova and Cambie, as well as another area surrounding Maple Tree Square that includes small portions of Powell and Carrall Streets. 

No cars will be allowed to access these areas during July and August, except for emergency vehicles. Residents and businesses will have vehicle access to buildings by way of the back alleys and lanes. 

Between these areas, the two blocks of Water Street are designated as a car-light area, with car access allowed only for “local vehicles.” This car-light area will also include loading, pickup, and drop off zones, and an area for tour buses. 

The car-light area will also be closed to vehicle traffic completely during some weekends and special events. There will be advanced notice of this provided to Gastown residents and businesses, according to the city. Both areas will include public seating, restaurant patios, community programming and storytelling spaces, and busking areas. 

The city has budgeted $1.2 million for the Water St. pedestrian pilot. 

Ironically, the red-brick pavers that are the target of ongoing construction were only added to the area – which is the oldest non-Indigenous settlement in what was then called Hastings, now Vancouver – in the 1970s, as an attempt by local businesses to “beautify” the area. 

In an academic theory of public space, this pilot project is an example of political power (re)creating social space to primarily serve economic goals. This perspective seems to be embedded in the rollout of pedestrianized spaces in Montréal and Vancouver. 

“The Water Street pilot that's being done right now is a little disappointing to me, because it's really for tourism and finding a new place to put the bar street in Vancouver. But why can't we do that in other parts of the city?” former Vancouver city planner Sandy James told Vancity Lookout.

This is in contrast to the approach historically taken along Vancouver’s Seawall, where a vast majority of the iconic walking and rolling path is not served by businesses and amenities vying for dollars from running-shoe-clad foot traffic and other passers-by. 

This model has been criticized in recent times, essentially for being boring. Increased commercial activity could be coming for the Seawall, and park spaces generally, as a result of a new park board strategy to enhance revenues by collaborating with entrepreneurs and businesses. 

While Vancouver can’t compete with Montreal in terms of pedestrian streets activated for months at a time, there are a number of one-off street parties and events that close large sections of a major high street for a day or a weekend. 

Italian Day on the Drive in early June, Greek Day on Broadway in Kitsilano in late June, Khatsahlano Fest on West 4th in early July, Powell Street Festival in early August, and Car Free Days on Main and Commercial in September, are all beloved summer celebrations – some which have been happening for half a century – that fill Vancouver’s streets with huge crowds. 

Ottawa

Written by our Ottawa Lookout colleague Robert Hiltz.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe spent much of the summer of 2023 pushing back against the use of the Queen Elizabeth Driveway as a car-free zone. A stretch from the Flora Footbridge at Fifth Avenue up to Somerset Street was closed off to vehicles during the day for the summer months, and instead used for active use only.

But complaints from the mayor and elsewhere argued that it made getting around the area difficult. The mayor specifically decried the closure of the section from Pretoria south to Lansdowne Park as disruptive for people heading there for large events, despite that section being reopened whenever there was a major event at Lansdowne.

The pressure worked. This year, a shorter section is closed to cars for the summer months, and the stretch nearest Lansdowne is business as usual.

After the convoy, Wellington Street in front of Parliament Hill was closed to vehicles. The federal government was in favour of keeping it that way permanently, but talks for the feds to take over the strip stalled, and the city lost patience. Citing increased traffic in some of the surrounding downtown roads, Ottawa reopened the strip to vehicles last spring.

The one concession along the street to active transportation was a temporary bike lane — with plans to make it permanent in the future — but even that has its issues, as tour buses and other vehicles are often found blocking the lane.

There are plans to pedestrianize William Street in the ByWard Market, but the overall plan is to minimize the disruption to car access through the Market. “While there will be a significant reallocation of space from parking lots to pedestrian areas as set out in this public realm plan, the transportation network will continue to function similarly to today,” the city’s plan says.

Some councillors are very enthusiastic about closing streets to vehicles, often specifically citing Montreal as a model. But with council heavily skewed toward the suburbs, wide-scale pedestrianization, or even pilot projects never gather much momentum.

Online, you’ll often see the city referred to as “Autowa.” The nickname is not unearned.