STRØGET

This week marks the 50th anniversary of a world first. On 17 November 1962 Copenhagen city council closed the one kilometre long Routen to traffic, thereby creating Strøget, the first ever pedestrian precinct. In February 1964, after a 15-month trial, the experiment became a permanent fixture.

We are so used to pedestrian areas in cities today that it's easy to forget how recently ago they emerged.

Walter Blotscher