Pitt Street Mall is the pedestrianised section of Pitt Street in the Sydney central business district, in the Australian state of New South Wales.
Extending for approximately 200 metres in length between Market Street and King Street, spans a single city block and is one of Australia's most densely populated and cosmopolitan shopping precincts. Due in part to the fact that major shopping districts in other Australian cities are significantly longer, floorspace rents here are consistently the highest in the country. This prominence was further highlighted in 2015, when the precinct's rental costs were ranked as the fifth-highest in the world for a city street.
Despite its relatively compact physical footprint, Pitt Street Mall serves as a premier retail hub, hosting a high concentration of chain stores alongside more than 400 diverse specialty retailers. Furthermore,the mall maintains a central role in the national cultural calendar as one of the primary flagship venues for Sydney Fashion Week, an event held annually during the month of May.
Formerly a vehicular street, the mall was closed off to traffic in the 1990s and became a pedestrian mall. This was commonplace in various Australian cities at the time, in an effort to encourage "walk-in" business. Many prominent Australian businesses had flagship stores along Pitt Street, namely Sportsgirl and Angus & Robertson. In the mid 2000s, there were attempts to make the mall a completely pedestrian thoroughfare, diverting all vans and trucks to the underground corridor from King Street to Market Street, at the southern end of the mall.
Along with extensive upgrades to retail areas, the Pitt Street Mall's pedestrian area saw a A$10 million refurbishment during 2010âÂÂ11. This included the provision of new seating as well as new pavers and a catenary lighting system.
Five shopping centres and arcades are located on Pitt Street Mall: