The beautiful European capital city where locals are embracing major car ban

A major European city has taken a novel approach to reducing traffic in its streets, and locals are said to actually be in favour of it. Pushes have been made in various cities on the continent to increase pedestrianisation, including in London and Paris.

But while many generally support encouraging greener forms of travel and tackling congestion, proposed permanent changes often prove controversial, with critics questioning their effectiveness and raising concerns about the impact on local businesses.

Stockholm has taken a different approach, introducing temporary bans on the use of cars on certain streets for fixed periods, Politico reports.

It's part of the city's Living Stockholm pedestrianisation scheme, which aims to make the Swedish capital less jammed up with vehicle traffic and more of an inviting city for people to explore on foot.

These short-term closures are normally in the summer, a time when people are more keen to get out and about, as per the outlet.

Lars Strömgren, Stockholm's Deputy Mayor for Transport and Urban Environment says avoiding implementing permanent changes has helped locals buy into the idea.

"Change makes people nervous, and they don't like when it feels forced," he told the digital political newspaper. For that reason they framed the closures "like a fun little experiment that can go away if people don't like them".

It's been expanded considerably over the past decade, with 40 streets seasonally car-free this summer, up from only two in 2015.

The pop-up approached helped convince small business owners who were concerned that a drop in vechile traffic would hurt them finacially, Mr Strömgren.

"By the end of the summer, many of the people who were initially complaining ask if we can please repeat the experiment next year!" he told the outlet.

Businesses also had a positive reaction to a pilot scheme allowing them to make deliveries at night so they can avoid getting caught in jams with commuters in the daytime.

It comes amid broader efforts to further reduce pollution in the city, which managed to achieve a 70% reduction of per capita emissions since 1990.

The City of Stockholm's Climate Action Plan 2030 includes a goal of bringing down emissions from energy use and transport by 80% and reducing consumption-based emissions by half by 2030. It's also aiming to be fossil-free by 2040.