Oxford Street is recognised worldwide as a leading retail destination — a symbol of London and the West End, drawing millions of visitors each year. The unique setting of this iconic street, weaving through several distinctive historic neighbourhoods, provides a character and vitality that out-of-town or mall-style shopping destinations lack.
Yet, Oxford Street stands at a crossroads. Intensifying modern retail competition, overstretched transport infrastructure, poor road safety, and an inadequate public realm present significant challenges – but also opportunity.
As part of a wider transformation of the West End, Publica — working alongside Gerald Eve and Volterra – has developed a social, economic, cultural and spatial vision for the Oxford Street District, for the New West End Company. The ambition is to transform a single shopping street into a varied, entertaining and well-connected district of distinct neighbourhoods – a vibrant centre for civic life and commerce with the world’s best retail destination at its heart.
The vision is set out across two reports. Oxford Street Today establishes the robust evidence base, examining economic performance, policy and planning frameworks, physical conditions and public perception of the area. A Future for the Oxford Street Districtoutlines how the area could evolve to drive significant economic growth and an unparalleled civic experience for all.
"But as one saunters towards the sunset — and what with artificial light and mounds of silk and gleaming omnibuses, a perpetual sunset seems to brood over the Marble Arch — the garishness and gaudiness of the great rolling ribbon of Oxford Street has its fascination. It is like the pebbly bed of a river whose stones are for ever washed by a bright stream. Everything glitters and twinkles.”
— Virginia Woolf, 'Oxford Street Tide' from The London Scene
