4.5 Permeability and walkability

New developments must be designed to well-established principles of good urbanism, creating legible, walkable mixed-use neighbourhoods with a clear heart.

Residents must be able to have quick, easy, and safe access to a range of facilities and services from their home through walking, cycling or public transport.

New town, village or local centres must be in convenient locations and designed as places that people have a reason to visit, gather and come together.

There are many ways of doing this, with and without a mixture of uses, depending on the development’s size:

• For the smallest sites, developments should ‘signal’ a middle not through use but through urban shape with a confluence of routes and a modest central square, space or village green depending on context.
• For slightly larger sites, the middle should also have flexible commercial, employment or community uses in addition to being at the confluence of routes and well connected on foot, cycle or via public transport.
• Larger sites should have a middle by use as well as by design with a commercial or community use (e.g. corner shop, café, community hall) and a public green or square. Wherever possible, these should be co-located with schools to take advantage of parent and student footfall.