But they did make good sets for dystopian sci-fi.

for some reason the first thing that came to mind was "I bet it smells like pee!"

Planners of these projects never seem to factor in maintenance. Unless you wash the stairwells after the weekend, repair the broken lights, clean off graffiti promptly and generally keep things pleasant these areas can quickly become threatening and unused.

They works well here in Hong Kong as they go from subway station to malls and connecting multiple malls together, making easy to travel around also great to go around when its raining.

Am I the only one who laughed out loud when I heard Britain's transport minister was also a major shareholder in a road building company?

Good video, but perhaps you missed one of the most important reasons why they failed (not just in London, but in Manchester, Newcastle etc.) - they became a mugger's paradise by the 1980's and 1990's. The way the architects planned them (segregated corridors) meant that there was little or no interaction with the routes they were taking - and no-one in the buildings could see the pedestrians being mugged/raped/murdered etc. People felt safer taking their chances on narrow pavements with speeding cars, so used these instead.

Put lots of neon and led screens on those walkways and you get cyberpunk

The pedways in London aren't just disorienting and physically exerting, I think (from I've seen) pedestrians feel really unsafe navigating them. Think about it: the lighting is subpar, there are no shops or restaurants lining them (causing them to be deserted at certain times of day) and because of the cramped space and constant turns you can't see what's ahead of you. If I had lived there during their construction I would have constantly been worried about potential muggers and the like waiting around the corner. The Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands has two or three pedways elevated above the main courtyard. These work because they're straightforward, and because they're actually necessary - the whole complex is enormous! I think they're reserved for medical personnel but I'm not sure.

I worked in a building on London Wall that incorporated these walkways. It was a faff to walk two storeys up. When you got there, you had no idea where anything led, and there was always a wind blowing litter in high-speed vortices. Painful if you got hit in the eye by a polystyrene cup. On one side, through the windows, were surprised office workers, staring at you, wondering why a window cleaner was wearing a suit & not carrying his bucket & dirty rag. On the other was the balcony, where you could look down on the intelligent people, who knew better than to venture up from street level where common sense dictated that they should be.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul area in the USA has a similar concept called "skyways" that connected downtown buildings. You would actually walk through the buildings and then on a bridge, you can access the adjacent buildings. The key difference was that these skyways were enclosed which made them handy during the winter months and they went inside of buildings instead along side of them. Years ago, I walked St. Paul's skyways and was very impressed.

This video showed the pedway as being sort of aimless and pedestrians have to go out of their way. I understand it rains a lot in London. In Minneapolis, we have a skyway system that runs through office buildings and over roadways. There are lots of restaurants, fast food, shops and stores on this level. It is well-loved because we can get some exercise in as well as get to meetings, do errands/shopping/food without being exposed to snow, rain, heat, and subzero cold.

I always go on a spree of watching these failed urban project videos when I'm terribly hungover and it's the only thing I can manage. They fit perfectly with my mood.

HK uses raised walkways on the island and they are rather successful, however they are rather wide, contain lifts at strategic locations, as well as small shops selling food and other odds and sods and all link subway stations or ferry wharfs. Tokyo has some as well, however these are normally created by the folks who build large buildings and you will find a lot of shops leading off them. Minneapolis has a network similar to what was proposed for London, but that was so people did not have to walk in sub-arctic weather when they left their office for lunch.

Because nobody wants to walk around in a giant urinal.

I like the ones around the Barbican. They always feel like a bit of a secret route and they don't smell of wee or feel like places to get mugged in. I also think the brutalist architecture has weathered in to become just another layer in the fabric of the city.

"It just appeared someday in a council document." And so, the ancient demon of pedways was summoned.

They should have made the storefronts accessible. It would be like a gigantic city sized mall.

The Calgary +15 walkway system works really well. The climate gives everyone a huge incentive to stay inside in the winter, so the walkway system is a coordinated network that links hotel lobbies, shopping centers, and enclosed bridges across the street. You can walk around the whole city center in shirt sleeves even when it's blowing a blizzard outside. It's got little businesses running all through it, so there are plenty of destinations to walk to.

To function, pedways should have stores and other establishments that would encourage their use.

I’m Australian. My wife and I just spent three weeks in London. We stayed with our daughters in their apartment near In Barbican. I found the area around Barbican and the Museum of London a bit odd and confusing, because of those raised walkways that didn’t seem to go anywhere and staircases that were blocked off. Now, I understand what the back story behind it is.

And zero consideration of anyone who has even minor forms of mobility issues.

Toronto has successfully implemented a similar type of scheme: it now has the world's largest underground pedestrian network. There are several key differences: - it's climate controlled, which is attractive with Toronto's scorching summers and slushy winters - it's full of shops and restaurants, making it less dreary than the pedways - it has direct access to subway stations, so walking in it often doesn't require any more up and down than walking along the streets - it's huge so there's a very good chance that your destination is connected to it - it's underground so it doesn't block any sightlines However it shares the problem that it was not centrally planned so it is very easy to get disoriented. Montréal also has succesful underground pedestrian network and Calgary has an elevated one. In those cities they provided an escape from the frigid winters.

You somehow make London’s pedestrian history extremely interesting!

This is so interesting! I lived in London for five years and never even noticed the Pedway system. I think the only time I'd use it (unknowingly) was walking from Barbican station to the Barbican Centre (route pictured at 2:26) some evenings to see a play... I always thought it was odd how the route there was via a raised walkway cutting straight through apartment complexes, with signs pleading with pedestrians to keep the noise down at night!

Chicago (where I'm from) has a large underground pedway system below its downtown. It's a great way to avoid both the car and pedestrian traffic and stay warm in the winter. You can go from multiple train stations to several buildings downtown without going outside, or at the very least walk a short distance from a pedway entrance to whatever building you're going to. It's really convenient and I feel like it's something not even that many people in Chicago know about. Edit: accidentally put some words in past tense, fixed it because the pedway system in Chicago is very much still around

When I was exploring during an empty Sunday, those pedways shown at start near the Museum of London were so hard to navigate and so eerie. I lost many times going up and down not knowing what and why they exist there. It did remind me of the Yugoslavian Architecture. Some of them were so small and cramped it was pretty scary to walk trough but it was a fun adventure!

They need to be reimagined more like New York's High Line elevated urban park, which has proven to be very popular.

The walkway near the Museum of London is the best example of why this never works. You can be mere metres away from the museum but have to walk across a street or two to ascend to the next level then walk around in a semi cicle to get to the museum. It’s completely counter intuitive to have to walk partially away from your destination.

An extreme example of pedways was extruded at Killingworth Township, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. There, the common folk were houses in concrete mock-castles, festooned with elevated concrete walkways. The only way to reach the Township centre, on foot, was via these long, unroofed human conduits, while the slightly better-off zoomed about in their Ford Escorts, far below. People hated it.

Love this style of video where you just walk around and share interesting info

I might be overreacting but when I see this I think, “a series of connected murder tunnels.”

“They had a vision but no plan” Subscribed just for that succinct and eminently quotable turn of phrase. I’ve been enjoying these tours of history and architecture, looking forward to seeing more.

I'd imagine people wouldn't feel to safe on them either, being hard to escape from and having bottlenecks would be highly intimidating for some people. But, did Dr. Beeching have any involvement with this if it was to promote road ways?

"Streets in the sky" - as a native of Birmingham, I'm only too aware of separating vehicles & pedestrians. Unfortunately most of ours were underground, breeding grounds for muggings, & are now memories of my childhood, all removed by the 90s to 2000s. Sadly they were a victim of 60s Brutalist architecture, which I have a strange fondness for. In NYC the former Highline railway has been turned into a lovely winding elevated walkway, almost like a park, going through & around old factories & new skyscrapers, showing that these ideas can flourish.

La Defense in Paris went the exact opposite way. Instead of separating the pesky pedestrians from the almighty car, they made the entire ground level a pedestrian area and moved the car traffic under ground. No doubt with its own problems but those were not so visible to the casual tourist like me ;)

Meanwhile in Tokyo: pedways everywhere, full of restaurants and shops, metro stops, plenty of people, no cars, no pollution.

For some reason I have a strong desire to walk around the pedways with a bunch of mates in white cricket gear, black boots, cricket groin protectors on the outside, wearing black bowler hats.

TGW, You have a lot of style! Your vid’s are always excellent on content, but your narration really makes them. & I’m sure my co-commenters agree. Keep up the crisp dry humour, sir!

I lived in Thamesmead as a kid in the '70s and saw the advantage of separating pedestrians from traffic. Though that was never the estates specific intention, trying to keep pedestrians separate from flood waters was the original plan, its city on stilts design made it a pedway paradise by default. Its biggest advantage was that it was very safe, I could ride my bicycle for many miles and never have to negotiate a major road or traffic junction.

I love the Pedway! I personally discovered it by accident 10 years ago when I first visited London, and had gone to the Barbican. I explored the area extensively where you walk at the beginning; around the City Museum and over to the newer buildings; I remember having lunch there and it was so peaceful and quiet. It's so underused, but that makes it a nice place to be because you can explore it in peace and take all kinds of photography and video privately; it provides a nice above ground view of some parts of the city, most especially the Barbican. I wish they had one of these in my city.

They didn't really consider the disabled either did they, ramps are marginally better but most of them are quite steep, the stairs everywhere though are a nightmare.

These pedways look like a children's maze book; full of dead ends and impractical design. Can you help Jimmy get to the end of the pedways?

Entertained by watching someone walk these rarely experienced streets of London. Very eloquent and interesting commentary - overall, well done! The pedways? A good idea, poorly executed. I've enjoyed exploring the Barbican though which feels like a small, elevated city (without all the shops!). And millions use the shortish one from Waterloo through the Shell buildings towards Westminster. This video reminded me of the elevated walkway in NYC which converted an old railway line, which has been done very well. Making them a living space with greenery helps hugely to change the experience of being on them.

That was a surprisingly interesting subject explored in an intelligent way by a competent and articulate person. Thank you.

Minneapolis has a pedway system that is useable because it covers most of the downtown and has retail shops and restaurants on all the areas that travel through buildings, even ones that aren't expressly built for retail commerce (such as office buildings). The walkways in between the buildings are also enclosed with heat and a/c, mainly because the city has pretty cold winters and hot summers, being in the midwest. When I visited Minneapolis, it was one of the first things I noticed about the city. I've been to London quite a few times and this is the first time I've ever heard of such a system there, which shows the point Jago was making.

"Functional but not cosmetic" Hey, as someone who likes everything cyberpunk I must say that they do have their charm, looks wise.

Why does the start feel like an episode of Peep Show 😂

If you were starting a city from the beginning, this would make a lot of sense. Keep ground level for traffic, parking and delivery access. Make the first floor contain public entrances and cover it all from the weather. The current design just looks like somewhere people go if they want mugging, like subways.

I lived in the Barbican for a while, used all sorts of pedways, thought they made a nice and interesting view and added a sort of pleasentness to the walks I used to have, not to mention cutting across to areas where alternate routes would be awkward.

I'm a fan of them in the City. Moving around the Barbican on the walkways is much nicer up there than down at street level. The great pity is, like Jago say, in the 1990s the scheme was dropped. Buildings were built by London Wall, Wormwood Street/Moorgate that could and should have linked up Liverpool Street station and the walkways around the Nat West tower to the walkways of the Barbican. Then there would have been a REAL functionality to them - being able to get onto the them at Broadgate/Liverpool Street and walk above the streets all the way to Smithfield/Barbican station One of Londons lost opportunitys ;-(

It directs pedestrian traffic away from shop fronts. People like walking past shops and interacting more with the city.

They’re just another example of an innovation in London being more successfully capitalised on in other cities. They kind of work along London Wall/Barbican, but no where near as successfully as I saw in Hong Kong.

It is a good idea, but the city as a whole needs to be planned and built for it. decree #1: every building downtown needs to have at least one terrace on the first floor, which connects by above-ground bridges across motorways to terrace(s) of other building(s) or any other pedway part. ...and... that's basically it. but it needs to be followed from the start of the city.

Is it normal for them to be almost completely deserted? That looks unsafe.

They had the same crazy idea here in Liverpool. Thankfully little was built apart from a couple of large footbridges (dismantled after less than 50 years). Frustratingly a new underground station was built (Moorefields) with the entrance about 20 feet above street level. You have to use steps or an escalator to enter or exit. You go up to then go down to the platforms.

I was in New York City back in 2016, I walked along part of the Highline, which was a disused elevated rail line converted into pedestrian paths and gardens, it’s honestly a lovely and pleasant place to spend an afternoon, it appears to be quite a popular space. So I can totally see a place for these raised pedestrian spaces, if done correctly, hopefully London’s new ones will deliver the same as the Highline.

A good example of a modern "pedway" of a sort is The High Line in New York. A fantastic use of old infrastructure and a really nice place to walk.

Not being a Londoner, I once got 'lost' on the pedway in London Wall trying to find the entrance to the Museum of London. Now I finally know what these things were. Thx as always Jago. Nothing like watching yr vids first thing, 'Easy like a Sunday morning'...

Those footpaths, especially in London, look like a great place to get mugged

We call them Skyways where I live, and they're enclosed, heated and cooled, and accessible via elevator (you call them lifts) and escalators (no idea what you call moving staircases). They connect absolutely every single building to every other one so you never have to walk outside. It's helpful because it's extremely cold here in winter (as low as -40°F/-40°C) and snowy, and winter can last as long as 7 months, while our summers can be very hot and humid. They get jam-packed. Ours are connected to shops and restaurants, not to mention parking ramps and office buildings, making it convenient for workers going to lunch. I dunno, Londoners. You're doing it wrong.

So good to see videos with interesting, clear spoken content and _original footage_, not the stock crap that so many edutainment channels reach straight for these days! Masterfully done.

I think it's not wellbeing the pedways lack, but variation. The typical street is full of shifting details, even at ground level. If meandering architectural forms, murals, shops, varied facades were implemented, it would be a lot more stimulating - and fun - to walk down

All the potential ammonia smelling and lack of security aside, the now (seems like) desolated pedways give strong vibes of liminality / backrooms (tho it's outdoors) imo

The pedway between Basinghall Street and Golden Lane was my favourite part of my morning commute. It was so peaceful up there. You could amble along interrupted by crossings and combustion engine units, without constantly having to look over your shoulder for incoming cycles and scooters. When they closed the section over London Wall a few years ago I feared it had gone for good but the new sections, past the Schroeder’s’ building, are beautiful and sensitively executed.

Both the way these look and the name pedway alone makes it feel like something you'd 100% expect to find in Judge Dredd.

Good idea, badly executed. I would really love the system if: - had great design, benches, shrubbery, trees, etc. - consistent cover from wind, rain, noise and blaring sunshine. - great access to street level, with as few stairs as possible, provide escalators and lifts and whole system fully accessible. - great access to shops, bus/tube stops along the way - great access to parking space - leave a car, use the pedway to get around the city - bike friendly - easy to navigate with clear routes, maps and landmarks. - regularly cleaned, maintained and patrolled.

A great video Jago I think you summed up the pros and cons of pedways really well. Here in Bristol, we had a similar scheme which was to cover most of the central city. similarly, it failed and it's gradually been demolished in recent years. Bits still remain, but don't really go anywhere. I think the new route in London is possibly an attempt to emulate the High Line in New York which has reused a derelict high level rail line to make a linear urban park. We'll have to see if it works...

One of the most interesting thing about a lot of European cities is that almost every Road is a pedestrian Road with buildings all around it because of how old these cities are. Here in America you only see that in a couple of cities on the coasts. Particularly you see that here in America in the cities of New England. These old old cities in Europe have a very distinct look that isn't replicated in the rest of the western world, nothing I said he was particularly important I just think that's a neat thought. And whoever took the time to read this comment I hope you have a wonderful day.

The swan lane stairway used to connect to the opposite building -- the walkway was demolished just few years ago!

IMHO, it looks great and whole Barbican Centre is beautiful. I like that old type of futurism.

I can think of two, one from Waterloo station to The London Eye, and the other was on an estate off Walworth Road in Elephant. The ministers who let this go through, never had to use it!

As others have pointed out they did try this in Liverpool (UK). One surviving relic of this scheme is that Moorfields railway station, an underground stop on the Merseyrail network, has it's main entrance above street level! In order to reach the underground platforms you have to climb stairs, use an escalator or a ramp and then descend down another escalator to the trains!

5:01 "Beautiful only to J. G. Ballard's publisher" Absolutely brilliant!

Can we please get this guy to narrate some audio books?

I’ve seen pedways work in 2 cities, Houston and Minneapolis. I lived in Houston and worked downtown, the pedways are tunnels that connect most of downtown buildings, allow Houstonians to avoid the searing heat of summer and include food courts & retail space which is why they are successful. I’ve visited Minneapolis in the winter. The pedways are elevated and allow downtown workers to get between their parking garage and office space without braving the tough winters. Again at lunch, they are able to get to lunch and retail spaces without wrapping up.

Some say that some people who walk there get lost forever Years just aimlessly walking around barbican

The failure of pedways to take off in their original incarnation is linked with the failings in high-rise flats and “villages in the sky” from the same era. Decent concepts executed with staggering arrogance and complete ignorance of the social factors. Pedways deserve a second chance, but also need innovative building design to make more of the upper floor the pedways connect to.

Now if London was connected by glass-covered, air-conditioned travelators...

What a brilliant idea! Being able to walk from one place to another and stay dry is an amazing concept!

We built some fantastic pedways in Caracas, in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and they were great for crisscrossing the city… my mum and I got to a movie theater clear across town on one, on weekends, without a car. Like your London ones, they were influenced by Brutalism, which itself was influenced by the world’s late twentieth century urbanization and building booms - in addition to being pleasing to look at, and reflecting a space-age-cool aesthetic, it happened to be a style that was quicker and less expensive to build in, suiting the needs of cities with rapidly-expanding populations. There’s also a very successful underground pedway system in Montreal that amounts to a whole underground city, and in Chicago we have a similar extensive underground pedway system, forgotten sections of which were recently reopened, and we’ve been converting some old, unused elevated railway lines into bikeways and pedways. It’s an ingenious idea… London’s pedway probably needs reforming just because it was built 1) before accessibility activists had enlightened the world to the needs of people with physical disabilities, and 2) in the early stages of city planning as a modern science, when cities like Brasilia followed the efficiency and organization models of 20th century business, before it had become apparent that humanity is better structured more organically than that, and 3) when the height of building and materials science was concrete, before lighter and airier structures could be more affordably and just as quickly constructed. Our present grassy aboveground pedways in Chicago are beautiful, and the belowground pedway should be regarded as a wonder of the world… so I hope London will persevere with the idea. You were ahead of your time when you began the project, so now that the world has caught up to you, since the roots for a fantastic system in London are already in place, all you need to do is rehab them to meet current and future standards!! 🚶‍♂️❤️🌎

I find them difficult to navigate. It's not clear where they lead because they'll often switch back on themselves confusingly, or have dead ends as mentioned in the video. Perhaps adding maps of the pedways would make them more intuitive and make them feel more enjoyable to wander along.

You should make another video contrasting this with the Canary Wharf interconnected Mall approach of recent years - a maze of mostly underground walks, shops everywhere but linked with bridges, lifts, elevators. From South Quay footbridge to Churchill Place to the rooftop garden on the island above the new Elizabeth line station.

Same concept here in Texas where government has gone crazy with bike lanes Great idea that nobody uses.

I experienced these in Japan and it made it possible to cross large complex intersections without waiting for traffic lights. They also went at helpful diagonals or enabled passing over areas with no shops below.

i think the idea could work, however, you would have to bring "street-level" up along with it. you don't need a car for a shop, but you do need a person there. bring all shops to the first or second floor. leave everything below for warehouse space and we are all good, right?

Excellent idea just line them with shops.

In central Kuala Lumpur, we have these too. Its very useful because it helps you to go to various buildings while avoiding the streets

I love pedalling along the pedway at high speed with dodgy brakes, so many impossibly blind corners, epic. Would never walk there though.

Fabulous video. I'm learning a lot of new things I did't know.

The phrase Concrete Jungle springs to mind...

You learn something new every day. Thanks!!

The High Line here in NYC is pretty successful because it presents itself as a park. It's pretty nice. Theyre thinking of doing something similar in The Bronx too.

We had the same problem with this idea in Newcastle upon Tyne, anything that’s left is a poor state of disrepair and unsafe that may be a reflection on poor quality of materials used in the original builds

This makes me think of when I get mad at all the traffic in cities:skyline and put snaking pedestrian paths pretty much anywhere

We have a whole district in Potenza, South Italy, built with pedways in the same years. They have never worked in full, but had a little fortune till the opening of malls. Now they don't have any commercial space active anymore, and they are trying to demolish a part of them. It’s a pity. They can be integrated with gardens and new ideas of public spaces.

I have to admit I do love Pedways, they're so fun to navigate and one of my favourite things when going to the Barbican (which is my favourite spot in London)

I think you will find, as Mr Marples said to Parliament, that it was his wife who was the shareholder not him. So that's all right then.

It’s like every bad architectural decision saw life in the 1960s 🙄

In the 1980s I used to take groups of little boys up to the Royal Festival Hall by tube about once a month. I didn't at that time even realise that the pedway was a thing. But I was highly delighted to find that the signpost at the station led us up a flight of stairs to a walkway that meant I could get my young kids safely from door to door without having to cross a single road and without having to make any choices about the route. I was devastated when they closed it and began to demolish it. This was a brilliant idea that has worked well in other countries. In the eighties, we were used to many parts of London being shabby and dirty; and under those standards, the pedways have to be the worst as no effort was made to make them appealling. Great idea, absolutely abysmally designed. I hope the new walkways catch on. What you showed here was so much more attractive.

I'm a big fan of your videos about London. They're well researched, well argued and presented. There's hardly a dull sentence. To coin an old fashioned compliment, they're very sound, and they treat the viewer as a grown up. Thanks - they brighten up my day.