Downtown pedestrian malls in Sweden and the United States

Sweden and the United States are two nations in which pedestrian streets have been widely implemented. This article describes, compares, and evaluates pedestrian malls in Europe and North America on the basis of their historical development, design features, retail trends, and transportation considerations. Twelve case studies, six in each country, are used in this analysis. Through a discussion of the key differences and their causal factors, planners on both continents should be able to gain valuable insights regarding the most significant features contributing to mall success and failure, and thus better understand the forces shaping pedestrian malls.