People protested when Ljubljana banned cars. Today, they wouldn’t change a thing.

In many cities, car-free streets are still a beautiful dream, but in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana, it has been a reality for over fifteen years. In 2007, when the newly elected mayor Zoran Janković came up with the idea of turning the city center into a car-free zone, he was even slapped by a protesting citizen in front of the town hall.

The idea was part of Janković’s “Ljubljana 2025” plan—a strategy aimed at making the city more pleasant, sustainable, and livable for everyone. In 2007, this was something highly unusual. “I don’t know if Ljubljana was the first in the world to implement something like this, but it was certainly the first in this region, meaning the former Yugoslav countries,” explains Saša Poljak Istenič, an academic who has studied the impact of the pedestrian zone on the city.

Today, not a single engine can be heard in the center of Ljubljana. Instead, on 17 hectares of streets, pedestrians and cyclists dominate the scene, alongside people sitting in cafés, walking their dogs, and enjoying public space. The air is cleaner, the city is greener, and businesses are thriving. According to Matic Sopotnik, a municipal official working in the transport department, residents today can “barely remember” what Ljubljana used to look like.

Inspiration in Times of Climate Change

In many cities around the world, the idea of life without cars still seems like a radical utopia. But Ljubljana, which made it a reality in 2007, proves what can be achieved with bold vision and the determination to carry it out. At a time when cities worldwide are striving to slow down and adapt to climate change, this model offers a major source of inspiration.

Ljubljana’s success is even more remarkable given that it was implemented despite strong public opposition. As Istenič explains, protests erupted soon after Janković presented the plan, largely driven by residents’ concerns about the impact of the change. “Their fears were not unfounded. They worried they wouldn’t be able to reach their homes or bring their shopping back,” she says.

In addition to banning cars, the city also built new bridges and underground parking garages.

Everyone Said the City Would Die

According to Sopotnik, local residents and business owners had rather extreme objections. People “simply couldn’t imagine” a city without cars. Yet, the mayor stood his ground, personally going door to door to talk with residents about how the transition to a pedestrian zone would unfold. “Everyone said the city would die,” Sopotnik recalls. “But in reality, the exact opposite happened.”

Banning cars was just the first step in the plan to create a “more livable” Ljubljana—and this turned out to be the key to its success. After closing the city center to cars on September 3, 2007, the municipality had already planned a schedule of outdoor concerts and festivals to bring life to the newly pedestrianized areas. The goal, Sopotnik explains, was to encourage people to use all available space in new ways.

Removing Cars Isn’t Enough

“We wanted people to understand that streets can serve many different purposes, not just as a place to walk,” he explains. “If you remove cars but don’t give streets a new life, people will start asking, ‘Why did you even bother?’”

But the transformation didn’t stop there. The city built new bridges connecting pedestrian zones, leveled cobblestone streets, and lowered curbs to make walking more comfortable. For those with mobility challenges, Ljubljana introduced small electric vehicles called “Kavalir”, which transport people around the city center for free.

Public transportation also saw major improvements. By 2011, a successful bike-sharing system had been implemented across the city. In 2015, the area around Ljubljana’s bus station underwent a complete redesign, becoming a green, multi-use space for pedestrians, cyclists, and buses. To top it off, an electric car-sharing program was added in 2016.

The car ban, however, is not absolute. Delivery vans are allowed to enter the city center in the early morning hours to supply local businesses. Residents can also park their cars in an underground garage built by the city.

The old cobblestones were replaced with more comfortable surfaces.

A Few Numbers

Although the outer parts of Ljubljana remain accessible to cars, the overall number of car trips has decreased—from 58% in 2003 to approximately 39% today. Banning cars from the city center also led to a dramatic reduction in air pollution—by as much as 70%. At the same time, the share of trips made on foot increased from 19% to around 35%.

When urban planners first proposed this change, the climate crisis was probably not their primary concern, says Istenič. However, planting new trees and restoring more than 100 hectares of green spaces have had a positive environmental impact. “Many of these ecological measures help manage heat waves, which we have been experiencing more frequently in recent years,” she adds.

A Shift in Mindset

According to Sopotnik, the most radical transformation of all has been the change in people’s mindset. While families used to own two or three cars, today “most have just one because they simply don’t need a second or third anymore,” he says.

Istenič, who works in the city center but lives outside the pedestrian zone, says that Ljubljana’s quality of life has significantly improved. “The absence of noise, clean air, urban furniture, and vibrant events make the city center a much livelier place than before. It’s simply a more enjoyable place to spend time,” she explains.

Many businesses have also adapted to this new reality—for example, some now offer bicycles to employees for commuting. Ljubljana’s bike-sharing system provides the first hour of use completely free.

Ljubljana is far from the only city embracing pedestrian-friendly urban design. From Copenhagen to Paris, city councils continue to push forward plans to limit car traffic in city centers. 

The city center belongs to the people

Distrust Is Human

Almost every city that attempts pedestrianization faces the same resistance and outrage that Janković encountered in Ljubljana’s early days. And almost always, residents fall in love with the project as soon as it’s implemented. A public opinion survey in Ljubljana revealed that 97% of residents now want to keep the pedestrianized city center.

According to Sopotnik, opposition to such changes isn’t necessarily about love for cars but rather about people’s natural distrust of change. “We’re only human. We fear change because we don’t know how it will turn out. But once we see that it works well, we start changing our minds,” he concludes.

Some of the transformations were quite dramatic. One street, now walked by thousands of pedestrians daily, was once filled with thousands of cars, says Sopotnik. “One of the main squares we closed used to be a major intersection. Another was the city’s largest parking lot,” he adds.

After Ljubljana won the European Green Capital award in 2016, dozens of foreign officials visited the Slovenian capital to learn from its success—something Sopotnik finds encouraging. While courage and determination are essential for such a transformation, he shares Janković’s most important piece of advice: “Do it in the first year of your term. After that, you’ll have to start worrying about the next elections.”

Crisis as Opportunity

While some countries are backtracking on their climate commitments due to energy instability, Sopotnik argues that there has never been a better time for cities to take bold steps toward cleaner streets. “With everything happening in the world right now—with the war in Ukraine and rising costs—this is actually an opportunity. It could accelerate the transition to more sustainable solutions,” he concludes.

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