Home Zones
A Home Zone is a residential street, or group of streets, designed for community use; for people on foot and on bicycles rather than for people in cars. The quality of life for residents takes priority over the ease of traffic movement. Legally, neither pedestrians nor vehicles have priority, but the road is restructured to make it more favourable to those not in vehicles. Home Zones can either mean the redevelopment of existing streets, or can be designed as part of a new housing development.
What do Home Zones aim to achieve?
Unlike 20mph zones, Home Zones aim to change the role and function of the street, rather than slow drivers down. The main purpose is to make the area safer, healthier and a more enjoyable place to live. The streets in a Home Zone are places where people can enjoy taking time to stop and chat with their neighbours and places where car drivers are guests.[1]
UK Home Zones have been inspired by Dutch ‘Woonerf’, which typically combine shared surfaces, trees, planters, parked cars and children’s play areas to create a street space so unlike a traditional street that vehicle speeds are significantly reduced by the instinctive, behavioural change in drivers. [2]
Some of the benefits of Home Zones are:
- They can turn streets into valued public space and encourage a sense of community.
- Greater use of the streets by people leads to an increase in natural surveillance, which in turn acts as a deterrent to crime.
- Encouraging more people to use the streets can contribute to a reduction in congestion and noise pollution and can improve air quality.
- Many residents, particularly elderly ones, may feel isolated from their immediate neighbours. Returning the streets to areas where residents can socialise can lead to a reduction in social exclusion.
- By creating an attractive urban environment, Home Zones may help curb the demand for new housing in the countryside.[3]
What do they involve?
Home Zones work by physically altering streets and roads in the area. The alterations force drivers to travel through the area at slower speeds and with greater care. Many countries which have introduced Home Zones have seen the introduction of legislation which allows the enforcement of a 10mph speed limit.[4]
Home Zones include features that deliver the message to people in cars that the area is primarily a residential area. The physical alterations made in developing a Home Zone are also considered to enhance the beauty of an area and increase the housing prices.[5]
Some traffic calming measures will usually be necessary to reduce vehicle speeds.
Typical characteristics of a Home Zone are:
- Traffic calming measures, such as speed bumps, ramps, chicanes
- A shared surface for vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists, with no separate raised pavements
- Very low traffic speeds
- Clear signs to reinforce the message to drivers that they are entering a different kind of street
- Trees, planting and street furniture
- Bollards and street lighting
- Seating areas
- Play spaces
- Car parking spaces for home owners
The success of a Home Zone is not just dependent on effective and well thought out plans, but also on the enthusiasm and interest of the whole community. Home Zones must be developed in partnership with residents and the community should be actively involved from the start.
How many Home Zones are there in the UK?
The UK Department for Transport made a capital grant fund available for erection of Home Zones but restricted it to £30million. This meant that although 247 Local Authorities applied for funding, only 59 were funded on top of the 9 already piloted in Manchester, Plymouth, Leeds, Nottingham, Peterborough, West Ealing, Lambeth, Sittingbourne and Magor Village. The charity Sustrans is working with a number of partners, including the Children’s Play Council and Transport 2000 to encourage the development of Home Zones across the UK, both in existing communities and in new housing developments.
Home Zones in other countries?
The Netherlands has introduced over 6,500 Home Zones or ‘woonerf’ streets since the late 1960s. [6] Since then many other countries have taken the concept of the ‘woonerf’ and created their own safe areas:
In Germany, there are home zones in many towns and cities. The German parliament introduced ‘Children and Traffic’ initiative in 1980, including a law requiring drivers to take care towards children. In 1993 the Ministry of Transport issued policy guidance for Home Zones.
In Austria, Home Zone legislation was introduced in 1983.
In Denmark, ‘Section 40 Streets’ were introduced in 1978 and hundreds have since been installed. These streets have a speed limit of 15 kph and give priority to pedestrians.
In America, groups such as the ‘Congress for New Urbanism’ are pushing ‘smart growth’, the mixed-use streets as a way to increase densities and achieve more liveable cities. [7]
How much do Home Zones cost?
The cost of developing a Home Zone will vary greatly depending on what is proposed for the area. On average, the Home Zones currently being developed in existing streets in the UK are costing about ?200,000 - ?300,000 per street ? roughly about ?1,000 per metre of road.[8] For streets in new developments, the cost is likely to be considerably less.
The local authority will usually be responsible for funding a Home Zone. However, other organisations such as developers and housing associations may sometimes be responsible for funding Home Zones.
What effect do Home Zones have on road safety in the UK?
It is difficult to say exactly as Home Zones are a relatively new concept. Even the areas chosen to take part in the government pilot have not been completed long enough to analyse ‘before and after’ statistics. However, the general feeling seems to be that Home Zones have had a very positive effect, both in terms of actual road safety and people’s perception of how safe the roads are.
Click here to read case studies on successful Home Zones in:
For more information
On Home Zones: www.homezones.org
Home Zone News: www.homezonenews.org.uk
Department for Transport: www.dft.gov.uk
Sustrans: www.sustrans.org.uk
[1] What are Home Zones? Home Zone News (Children’s Play Council)
[2] Home Zones, Sustrans
[3] Home Zones ? planning and design, Department for Transport, 2001
[4] What are Home Zones? Home Zones
[5] What are Home Zones? Home Zone News (Children’s Play Council
[6] Are there home zones in other countries?, Home Zone News (Children’s Play Council)
[7] Are there home zones in other countries?, Home Zone News (Children’s Play Council)
[8] Establishing a home zone, Home Zone News (Children’s Play Council)
