Traffic calming as retail planning - the case of nørrebrogade

Sammanfattning: Traffic calming is often recognized as an effective policy to create sustainable and vibrant urban environments. The techniques of traffic calming does however challenge the often assumed aspect that an effective accessibility for cars is essential for successful retail spaces. By observing the retail mix before and after the implementation of traffic calming on a Copenhagen high-street, Nørrebrogade, as well as investigating the perceptions of expected and actual impacts from traffic calming by different stakeholders, the thesis provides a broad perspective on the relation between traffic calming and development of retail structures. The thesis firstly shows that the different assumptions of the impacts from traffic calming is based on different understandings of what attracts customers, secondly that the traffic calming has been paralleled by a considerable high percentage of business circulation, thirdly that the majority of retailers, four years after the completion of the project, has a positive perception of the retail conditions of Nørrebrogade, and fourthly that the perceptions of retailers although differs between retail categories. With these aspects in mind, traffic calming is discussed as a policy tool for retail development.