London will be staging one of the most significant global Car-Free Days, with the City of London and some surrounding streets becoming the venue for a major festival.

As well as a sunrise yoga session on Tower Bridge, there will be a later classic-cycle ride across the iconic bridge. All of the city’s cycle hire bike will be free for the day, and organizers are hoping that 150,000 people will take to the streets and discover what London is like when it’s not clogged nose-to-tail with space-inefficient motor cars.

More than 20 miles of London’s roads will be closed to motor traffic for the day, and 340 residential streets will be made into “PlayStreets” for children.

Orchestral and dance performances will be staged at the Bank Junction in the City of London, and spectators will be able to relax on the roads on deckchairs, armchairs and bean bags.

Additionally, 15 London boroughs–including Ealing, Hackney, Hammersmith & Fulham, Haringey, Islington, Newham, Tower Hamlets, and Waltham Forest– will be staging their own Car-Free Day events.

“I’m really proud that London will be holding its biggest Car Free Day celebrations on Sunday,” said Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

“By enabling Londoners to explore our city without cars and traffic, we will inspire them to walk and cycle as part of their daily routine–something which is crucial to clean up our toxic air.”

The clean-air theme was continued by Dr. Audrey de Nazelle of the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London who added: “For one day Londoners will walk, bike and play down the streets devoid of the most immediate sources of air pollution, noise, and traffic stress. Hopefully, they will develop a taste for it and soon be demanding more permanent car-free solutions.”

Cities have been organizing International Car-Free Days annually since 1995. In the EU, the day caps the end of European Mobility Week. Bogotá in Colombia holds the world’s largest car-free day, which was formalized after a public referendum.

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website.

Carlton Reid

I was Press Gazette's Transport Journalist of the Year, 2018. I'm also an historian – my most recent books include "Roads Were Not Built for Cars" and "Bike Boom", both published by Island Press, Washington, D.C