One Sunday in February, a miserly 250 metres on MG Road in Bengaluru was closed to traffic and thrown open to the public as an Open Streets initiative. There were shops, food outlets, street art, entertainers, music et al. And the public response was overwhelming. Over 100,000 people visited the stretch and, post-5 pm, the place resembled Churchgate Station in peak hour. It was an unqualified success, barring challenges in finding parking space and some grouses about the littering. It just went to show that citizens are starved of vibrant public spaces and flock in droves when there is an opportunity. Bengaluru’s Open Streets initiative follows a string of similar initiatives in other cities — Raahgiri in Gurgaon, Delhi, Bhopal and Equal Streets in Mumbai.