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When experiencing rush hour in central London, it is easy to assume that such places are always crazily congested. But these apparently high population densities are misleading because the vast majority of those rushing cannot afford to be residents of these areas because the adjacent residential streets are so expensive. Of course, most pedestrians are there for shopping or working purposes or they are tourists. Additionally, motor vehicles occupy half or more of the road space and force pedestrians onto crowded narrow pavements (side-walks).
But keeping undesirable motor-vehicles at bay is not enough to create a totally tranquil and safe city environment. Undesirable people also need to be kept at bay. In Western countries most big city centres have very lovely botanical gardens and expansive parks with beautiful mature trees, pretty ponds with ducks and swans and other water fowl, boating lakes, smart cafes, etc. Although these provide an environment superior in many ways to the blandness of most suburban “green spaces”, they are nowadays considered totally unsafe for unaccompanied children and even, increasingly often, for adults too unless in numbers or accompanied by a fierce-looking dog. After dark, unless the gates are locked and patrolled by guards, they become the haunt of undesirable characters, a situation which should be totally unacceptable for any advanced society.