---
title: "Car-free: before and after"
canonical: https://bilfrittstockholm.org/en/blog/before-after-streets/
lang: en
---

Issue 01 ● Blog May 19, 2026 

[← All posts](/en/blog/) 

# Car-free: before and after

May 19, 2026  · Bilfritt Stockholm 

It is hard to imagine what a street can look like when the cars are gone. We are so used to asphalt, parked cars and noise that they feel like laws of nature. But they are not. Drag the slider below and see the difference with your own eyes.

![Åsögatan on Södermalm today: roadway and curbside parking take up most of the street's width.](/images/blog/fore-gata-asogatan.webp) ![The same view of Åsögatan without cars: the street is turned into a walking route with trees, benches and outdoor seating.](/images/blog/efter-gata-asogatan.webp) Today Car-free 

↔

Åsögatan

![Tegelbacken today: a wide traffic apparatus with several lanes between Gamla stan and Norrmalm.](/images/blog/fore-gata-tegelbacken.webp) ![The same view of Tegelbacken without car traffic: the area is turned into a square and walking routes toward the water.](/images/blog/efter-gata-tegelbacken.webp) Today Car-free 

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Tegelbacken

![Hornsgatan today: through traffic in both directions along one of Stockholm's most air-polluted streets.](/images/blog/fore-gata-hornsgatan.webp) ![The same view of Hornsgatan without cars: the roadway is replaced by tree planting, a bike lane and wide walking areas.](/images/blog/efter-gata-hornsgatan.webp) Today Car-free 

↔

Hornsgatan

![Jungfrugatan on Östermalm today: parked cars along both curbs.](/images/blog/fore-gata-jungfrugatan.webp) ![The same view of Jungfrugatan without parked cars: the street has been given planting, bike parking and seating.](/images/blog/efter-gata-jungfrugatan.webp) Today Car-free 

↔

Jungfrugatan

## What fits instead?

A curbside parking space claims about 15 square meters of the street. The car itself is only around 8 square meters. The rest is the space needed to open the door and reverse in. We have written more about [how a parking space is measured](/en/blog/how-big-is-a-parking-space/).

That area fits about ten bicycles. Or an outdoor café with ten guests. A block of curbside parking, easily forty spaces, becomes around 600 square meters, and that is enough for a park where hundreds of people can breathe, play and meet.

At its core, this is about how we want to use our shared spaces. Should our streets mainly be through routes and storage for private vehicles, or living urban rooms?

## Read next

[Aug 12, 2026● GuestStockholm's Summer Streets 2026: The ChampionsLast time, I broke down why summer streets matter. Now, let's rank them, from "decent but could do better" to "urban paradise."7 min read](/en/blog/stockholms-summer-streets-2026-champions/)[Aug 9, 2026● GuestStockholm's Summer Streets 2026: The Best and the RestEach summer, Stockholm gives up its car-oriented, grey and depressing streets and adopts a new image: a people-friendly city.5 min read](/en/blog/stockholms-summer-streets-2026/)[Aug 21, 2026● Summer streetsRörstrandsgatanRörstrandsgatan has led Stockholm's summer street movement since 2016 and is now pedestrian year-round. A guest post by Irena Toljan on what business owners thought before and after, what the safety surveys show, and why there is still too much traffic.5 min read](/en/blog/rorstrandsgatan-pedestrian-street/)

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