At around 8pm on Sunday evening the last car made its way down Oxford Street, marking the start of a momentous new era for our nation’s high street. Today, after decades of discussions and deliberations, the action we’ve taken means almost one kilometre of Oxford Street is now officially traffic-free – just in time for Christmas. But this is only the start of a much bigger transformation, and the first step towards a bright new future for this historic thoroughfare.

Walk down Oxford Street, and you’re passing through hundreds of years of British history and culture. In 1864, an ambitious young draper called John Lewis opened his first shop on the street. Forty-five years later, the American entrepreneur Harry Gordon Selfridge arrived with a radical idea: to transform shopping from a mundane necessity into an unforgettable experience. He filled his store with dazzling window displays, world-class entertainment, restaurants and lounges. He even installed women’s toilets – a rarity in Edwardian England – giving women a newfound freedom to make the most of the city. As he opened the doors to his first customers, he told them “everyone is welcome”.

That spirit has been at the heart of Oxford Street’s success ever since. We love it because it feels as if it belongs to all of us. It’s where teenagers come for their first shopping trip with friends. Where families marvel at the magic of........

© The Guardian