The City of London walkway experiment

Planners have frequently proposed but rarely implemented vertically segregated pedestrian circulation routes. One of the more conservative planning authorities in Britain, the Corporation of the City of London, became involved after WW II in an experiment with high-level pedestrian walkways. Initially reluctant, the corporation became an enthusiastic pioneer of vertical segregation, imposing it on office developers within London's central business district, the Square Mile. Though much walkway has been built, little was ever joined up and most remains unused. This paper explores the genesis of the City of London Walkway experiment and accounts for its failure. -Author