In 2021, Tartu submitted the Car-Free Avenue to the Green Destinations Top 100 Success Stories
The busy Vabaduse Street in Tartu city center was closed to cars in July 2020, and in 2021, in collaboration with cultural organizers, businesses, partner municipalities, and other summer events, the Car-Free Avenue was created, revitalizing urban space and offering visitors an exciting program and knowledge.
A significant aspect of the Car-Free Avenue sparked numerous discussions about environmental issues and car dependency. Additionally, the newly developed guide for environmentally friendly events in the City of Tartu was implemented for the first time at this year’s event, and direct environmental impacts were measured and analyzed. In 2020, the Car-Free Avenue was visited by 150,000 people from across Estonia and abroad.
For the impact assessments of the Car-Free Avenue, feedback was gathered from a thousand residents and inhabitants of nearby municipalities. A full 70 percent of respondents believed that the project was worthwhile, with particularly positive responses coming from those aged 15-24, 42 percent of whom wished for a permanent solution on Vabaduse Street.
The Car-Free Avenue had a positive impact on domestic tourism, as there were nearly 7,000 more overnight stays in Tartu accommodations during this year’s comparable period than in July of the previous year.
The strength of the Car-Free Avenue’s success story was highlighted as the safe revitalization of the local community and tourism during challenging times through collaboration across various sectors. Additionally, raising environmental awareness was deemed important, and there is much that other destinations can learn from the success of the Car-Free Avenue, which is also easy to replicate.
