'Liveable streets': how cities are prioritising people over parking

Schemes to reclaim city streets for pedestrians are flourishing during the Covid-19 pandemic

Where once there was parking, now there are decks. At the start of the year, Rotterdam's Witte de Withstraat was a car-choked thoroughfare. Today, cars are banned after 4pm, locals stroll leisurely down the middle of the road and special wooden terraces have taken the place of parking spaces.

The terraces are a fantastic solution," says Iris Wulffraat, teh owner of Eetcafe Opa (Cafe Grandpa') and Bierboutique. They give the extra space we need right now. And they've been decorated in a very attractive way - there's a completely different energy to the area now."