Planning

With the publication of new planning guidance for housing in 2000, the UK Government set out to reverse the seemingly inexorable post-war trends towards decentralised suburban sprawl. Confounding certain critics who claimed in the 1990s that it would be impossible, the policy has begun to increase both the density of new development, the proportion built on 'brownfield' sites and to reverse the declining populations of our principal cities.

Although there are clear economic and environmental benefits to urban redevelopment (saving greenfield land, reducing travel demand), conventional development has one serious drawback: intensification of dwellings brings intensification of traffic.

There have recently been signs of a backlash, with pressure from some quarters to move back to lower density greenfield development, inevitably involving more dependence on the car. This would be a great mistake. Instead of abandoning the gains of recent years, we need a new approach to address our growing transport problems. We believe that carfree development is an essential part of this new approach.

If development in the most accessible locations were to be built without residential parking, then the cycle of higher densities leading to higher traffic can be broken. Green carfree oases can provide a model of sustainable living within the city.