Making better streets for walking
Making Walking Count is one of the Mayor of London’s priorities for the capital. We want to encourage more residents and visitors to travel around the borough on foot by improving streets and shared spaces.
What’s being done In Southwark
Improvements made to streets and key walking routes include:
- widened and repaved footways
- new and improved pedestrian crossings
- improved accessibility through step-free access
- removal of obsolete signs, poles, columns and railings
- trees and planting to green streets
- seating
- removal of hiding spaces and blind corners
- signing, in particular Legible London
- street lighting for pedestrians
Get involved in improving your local streets by joining the Living Streets local group in Southwark or signing up for Living Streets monthly newsletter.
The Walk London Network
Leisure walking plays an important role in helping to improve the quality of life and vibrancy of London for both visitors and Londoners alike. These routes also provide easy access to green places and water spaces that form London’s great outdoors.
TfL has funded the Walk London Network (also known as the Strategic Walk Network) for the past eight years to deliver a pan-London walking resource comprised of seven high-quality walking routes. Ninety percent of Londoners are within 10 minutes of one of the seven routes. Annually over seven million people use these routes to walk to work and school, or simply for enjoyment. The Green Chain walk (part of one of these seven routes which runs through Southwark) can be started or finished at Nunhead Cemetery. For more information, visit the Walk London pages.
Legible London
TfL research has shown that one in four people are concerned about getting lost, which is a barrier to walking. Legible London is a consistent and effective pedestrian way finding system for London, designed to provide useful, accessible information for people moving around the capital on foot.
Within Southwark, Legible London is in place in an increasing number of areas including South Bank, Elephant and Castle and London Bridge. It's designed to make navigating the area on foot easy by showing pavements, crossings and short cuts.
TfL have identified that a total 1.9 million trips currently made by mechanised modes are potentially walkable. Of these walkable trips, 1.2 million trips that are less than 2km are driven in outer London every day, which could be walked in less than half an hour. It's estimated that there are 49,000 potential walk trips within Southwark and that 72% of the walking potential in the borough has been realised. Southwark is estimated to have a walk mode share of 30%. This compares to an inner London borough average of 37%.
Southwark Living Streets
The Southwark branch of the national charity Living Streets campaigns to create better streets and public spaces for people on foot. Everyone is welcome to attend meetings, so if you feel there are any places in Southwark that need improving for those on foot, come along. The group usually meet on the third Thursday of the month.
Page last updated: 16 September 2021
