New plans to 'revive' Oxford Street announced

Westminster City Council has announced “ambitious” new plans to “revive” Oxford Street and the surrounding area, an iconic shopping hub in London and key attraction for luxury tourists.

The new Oxford Street District (OSD) framework, developed with key strategic partners, hopes to “ensure the successful long-term future for the nation’s high street, as the greenest, smartest, most sustainable district of its kind anywhere in the world”.

The plans include a “bold, new ‘Marble Arch Hill’ temporary visitor attraction at Marble Arch to be a catalyst for Oxford Street’s climb back to global acclaim and success”.

Other more long-term changes include cleaner air across the district through “world-class” sustainability initiatives and a zero-emission transport network; new models of living and working, “supporting small and medium-sized enterprises to establish themselves and reusing and reimagining existing buildings”; and a world-class public realm with “a strong focus on play”.

‘Bold’ new plans for London’s luxury shopping hub

Westminster has already committed 150 million pounds to kickstart the OSD programmes, with “a large number of immediate projects getting underway within weeks”.

Those projects include additional pedestrian space, pop up parks, new lighting, landscaping, greening projects and cultural space.

Westminster City Council leader Rachael Robathan, who unveiled the blueprint on Tuesday, said the project was planned “long before the pandemic”, but its importance had been underlined in the past year.

“The West End is the engine of the London economy and a huge employer which has been hit hard by the effects of Covid-19,” she said in a statement.

“We are confident that our bold plans will secure the District’s long-term success, running alongside our creative, interim plans to boost the capital’s post-pandemic recovery. We want to focus attention on this iconic centre of our city which has been increasingly overlooked and cement its status for the future as a key central London destination.”

Image: Oxford Circus, courtesy of New West End Company