A Home Zone is defined as a street where people and vehicles share the whole the street space safely, and on equal terms; and where the quality of life takes precedence over the ease of traffic movement. Changes to the layout of the street should emphasise this change of use, so that motorists perceive that they should give equal priority to others. The approach adopted to create Home Zones has been to reengineer the space around people's homes such that they feel more able to undertake social and leisure activities within the overall street space. As well as addressing the traffic aspects, Home Zone schemes also develop a greater pride and responsibility in residents for the care and well being of their surroundings. This is being achieved by the active involvement of residents in the design process. The strength of community ownership developed through the inclusive participation process also encourages new residents to accept the ethos of the community. The principle of a Home Zone is to be flexible with the use of space and not to be over prescriptive as to routing or use. A Home Zone may consist of shared surfaces, indirect traffic routes, areas of planting, and features to encourage the use of the street, such as seating and informal play features. Traffic speeds will be low enough that walking in the middle of the street is not unsafe. Clear indications are needed at the entry and exit from an area that is fundamentally different from normal road space in its design, layout and use. This paper will discuss the experience of the 57 English local authorities that have participated in the Home Zone Challenge funded by the Department for Transport and consider opportunities for implementation of future schemes where no specific funding is allocated. For the covering abstract please see ITRD E135207.
Abstract