On April 12, Johannesburg hosted its first Main Street Sundays, inspired by Open Streets, an international movement that encourages cities to make roads more walkable.
Main Street is a pilot route on Johannesburg’s Walkable Network – an approved City of Johannesburg policy and inner-city investment strategy that focuses activity and investment onto priority routes. The event took place from 44 Main down to Gandhi Square along Main Street and the interconnecting side streets.
The streets filled with people participating in nine activation zones focusing on wellness, mind and body, as well as books and reading; active mobility such as bikes, trikes, prams, skateboards; live music; a kids’ interactive play zone; art and design; a games zone; making music; the food court at Gandhi Square; and the Jozi My Jozi information zone.
“Main Street Sundays is part of a 50-year global movement that has transformed cities from Bogotá and Los Angeles to Addis Ababa, Cape Town and now Jozi. With Main Street closed to cars and taxis on Sunday, it’s going to be less hooting and hollering, and less rushing too. Instead of peeking through the window as you drive by, Main Street Sundays gives you a chance to meet Jozi at a chilled, walking pace,” said Dawn Robertson, Visitor & Creative Economy Catalyst at Jozi My Jozi.
Main Street Sundays is a partnership between hosts Jozi My Jozi and Young Urbanists NPC, the Johannesburg Inner City Partnership, Johannesburg In Your Pocket and the City of Johannesburg.
