Most public and private building schemes are languishing thanks to the deepest economic recession in living memory. Not so those of Oxford’s two universities.

Both have massive building schemes at various stages of development and the recession, if not the planning process, is not holding them back. The Ashmolean galleries were recently redrawn after a massive investment in the facilities. They have given the city of Oxford a world-class attraction.

This week we report progress on the redevelopment of the New Bodleian library in Broad Street. At £78m it is an even bigger investment than the Ashmolean.

Like the Ashmolean, it will open up more of the University’s treasures to visitors. It also offers an opportunity to further some of the long-awaited improvements to historic Broad Street. Oxfordshire County Council sees the redevelopment as an opportunity to join the university in refashioning this end of Broad Street. We are not promised full pedestrianisation but a pedestrian-friendly area. While accepting this is consistent with the desire to maintain access to Oxford Covered Market, we hope this area will be designed predominately with pedestrians in mind.

Redesign of the streetscape at this end does beg the question of what is to happen in the rest of Broad Street. While it is possible to wander large parts of it without the threat of vehicles, Broad Street’s appearance is hardly in keeping with its status.

Recent events, we think of Christmas lights switch-ons and Luminox in 2008, have shown what a fantastic space Broad Street is and how it can be the focus for big public events. As far back as the early 90s, Broad Street was picked out for its potential to be a superb public square to rival the great public squares of the Continent.

The New Bodleian redevelopment will help us on the way to achieving this vision but there is much else to do besides.