living street putting people first

Thinking of streets – particularly high streets and similar areas where walking is the natural choice – as places, rather than just corridors for traffic, opens the door to exciting new design approaches like shared space that can help create places that people want to use and are proud of.

• The Department for Transport’s Local Transport Note on Shared Space (2011) is the definitive government guidance on implementing shared space schemes and was developed in close consultation with stakeholders including Living Streets and disability organisations. 
• Research commissioned by the Department for Transport found that ‘well-designed shared space schemes in appropriate settings can bring benefits in terms of visual amenity, economic performance and perceptions of personal safety’.
• Working with those who will use the space is particularly crucial when undertaking a radical redesign. Our Community Street Audits give communities the tools and confidence to identify the improvements that their streets need, backed up with the technical expertise to help local authorities plan and implement them. If we can help contact Richard Mullis on 020 7377 4900 or richard.mullis@livingstreets.org.uk.
• Guide Dogs give some pointers on successful street design for visually impaired people.
• Monitoring and evaluating schemes after completion is essential to ensure that they are working well - the Department for Transport has issued a useful Local Transport Note on carrying out Quality Audit, including assessing users' perceptions of a street or scheme and running Community Street Audits.