One important consequence of coronavirus and lockdown has been a renewed focus on exercise, healthy living and tackling obesity, as well as improved air quality in our towns and cities. So what role can planning and the built environment play in helping to ensure we don’t track back to old, bad habits?

Local authorities across the world, and many of those in the UK, have put in place new street schemes, making them safer and more pleasant for cyclists and pedestrians. Madeira Drive in Brighton closed to vehicular traffic, for example, while streets in Reading became one-way to provide space for cycling.

Where these measures work they should be formalised and made permanent. Where unsuccessful, alternatives should be investigated.

Greening is also key – improving street scenes with additional planting not only helps mental health, but slows the heat island effect in dense urban areas. Street furniture and the removal of vehicle traffic can aid retention time, with pedestrians better able to explore what’s on offer in their town centre.

Recently confirmed flexibility in planning policy should allow town centre uses to change more easily, creating more mixed-use workplaces. The premise of the 15-minute town (or five-minute village) should be used to assess how the places in which we live can be made more sustainable and accessible by bicycle and on foot.

Urban designers have long been promoting ‘walkable neighbourhoods’ where facilities are available within a short walk or cycle ride. This was how our traditional villages were structured. They also form the basis of much of London, which is built on a network of walkable neighbourhoods (some better than others). You can test your own neighbourhood walk score here.

The focus of transport policy has for years talked about this approach while in reality creating more capacity for cars on our streets – even so, imagine the congestion if those who are currently keen to avoid public transport switch to driving to work.  

Now is the opportunity for that to be reversed.

Trees, new parks, wider pavements and streets that favour active travel will help the march towards a healthier society. New towns and villages, or extensions to them, will need to consider maximising local trips, providing a wide mix of uses, perhaps with new local employment, thereby reducing the need to commute. Sufficient density will be necessary to support local facilities, so opportunities should be explored to add new buildings where space is not used efficiently.

All of this chimes nicely with the report released earlier this year by the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission called Living with Beauty. No-one, surely, would dispute that a little more beauty and better health are good things to plan for?

Further information

Contact Andrew Raven

Contact Savills Planning