
For many years, we have known about the sustainability benefits of reducing automobile dependency in cities. Environments that prioritize pedestrian, cycling, and public transit over automobile mobility are cleaner, healthier, quieter, more pleasant, and far more conducive to outdoor activity.
In addition, they are more economically sustainable as pedestrians tend to spend more money in shops, restaurants, and cafes, than drivers do. In addition, more mobility choice increases the number of potential customers. Of course, automobile advocates dispute this claim when resisting attempts to design complete communities.
Now there is evidence. Check out this article by Carlton Reid in Forbes. Twenty million anonymized transactions were analyzed by the Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria after central Madrid was closed to automobile traffic and compared to data collected prior to the closing. Their findings revealed a significant 9.5% increase in retail activity when the streets were pedestrianized.
This is another illustration of how a design decision can yield social, environmental, and economic benefits to a community.