Since 1962 virtually every Danish town has converted its major downtown shopping street into a pedestrian thoroughfare known as a gSgade (walking streeO. The g~gader have been successful at relieving traffic congestion; stabilizing inner city retail sales," encouraging the pedestrian activity of women, children, and the elderly; and increasing public appreciation of the historic urban architecture of the pre-automobile age. Supporters of the pedestrian concept are eager to expand the g~gader to residential areas outside the inner city commercial core, but rising opposition from motorists, as well as practical limitations, have hindered a further transfer of street space from automobile to pedestrian use.
