Our Research

Members of our association are actively involved in current academic research projects in the following areas:

• Demand for carfree housing in the UK
  Although UK planning policy encourages the concept of carfree development, implemented examples have all been small scale so far. The purpose of this research is to examine the potential demand in the UK for carfree developments on the neighbourhood scale seen in some European countries.
  See Steve Melia's papers about his research, Freiburg-Vauban and other lessons from Europe.
  


• Carfree housing potential within the current planning system
  It may surprise many people to learn that Government policy has favoured carfree development in the right location for some time. Recent advice on residential travel plans extols the virtues of existing small carfree developments in London. We argue for larger carfree areas on the basis that only when carfree areas are applied to create communities, not just blocks of flats, are the true economic, environmental and social benefits felt.


• The transferance of successful European carfree housing policies to the UK -- and how this country is ripe for such a transformation in urban housing design. See David Morris's paper : Car-free development: the potential for community travel plans", 37th Annual UTSG Conference, University of West of England 2005