Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town restricted to use by people on foot or human-powered transport such as bicycles, with non-emergency motor traffic not allowed. Converting a street or an area to pedestrian-only use is called pedestrianisation.
Pedestrianisation usually aims to provide better accessibility and mobility for pedestrians, to enhance the amount of shopping and other business activities in the area or to improve the attractiveness of the local environment in terms of aesthetics, air pollution, noise and crashes involving motor vehicles with pedestrians. In some cases, motor traffic in surrounding areas increases, as it is displaced rather than replaced. Nonetheless, pedestrianisation schemes are often associated with significant falls in local air and noise pollution and in accidents, and frequently with increased retail turnover and increased property values locally.