Homezone
'A Home Zone is defined as a residential street where people and vehicles share the whole of the street space safely, and on equal terms, where quality of life takes precedence over the ease of traffic movement.'
'It is a concept that is new in UK, but present in Europe in various forms for more than thirty years. The layout of the street should emphasise this change of use, so that motorists perceive that they should give equal priority to others. The concept can be applied to either new housing areas or to existing streets of a more conventional nature. For an extensive new development or established area, its use would be limited to a small number of streets within the larger area.'
'The approach adopted in UK to create Home Zones has been to re-engineer the space around people’s homes so that they feel more able to undertake social and leisure activities within the overall street space. As well as addressing the traffic aspects, Home Zone schemes also develop a greater pride and responsibility in residents for the care and wellbeing of their surroundings. This has been achieved by the active involvement of residents in the design process.'
'The strength of community ownership developed through the inclusive participation process also encourages new residents to accept the ethos of the community. As the involvement of the community has been at the core of successful Home Zones, it has been perceived that these cannot be applied to new developments and can only be used to change and improve the streets around existing homes.'
Extract from The Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation report Home Zone Residential Areas prepared by John Barrell at TRL.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
- 15 minute city.
- Accessible.
- Are electric bikes the future?
- Close proximity.
- Connectivity.
- Cycling and walking plan.
- Designing for pedestrians.
- Integrated transport system.
- London car charging infrastructure.
- Low traffic neighbourhood LTN
- Pathway
- Pavement.
- Pedestrianised.
- Pedestrian shed.
- Pedestrian priority street.
- Pop-up cycle lanes.
- Road traffic management.
- Safe pedestrian route.
- Sustainable transport.
- Terraced houses and the public realm.
- Transport assessment.
- Types of road and street.
- Walkable catchment.
- Walking distance.
Featured articles and news
We're expanding our collaborative mission by launching DB Intelligence, an exclusive market research advisory panel. Built environment professionals can now get paid to share their expertise on industry trends, products and services.
Panel members receive direct financial incentives for participating in research projects like short surveys, 1-2-1 interviews and focus groups. Register today to shape the future of the construction sector.
Building Safety Wiki Interviews
Chief executive of the British Woodworking Federation.
Planning condition discharge in England and Wales
A brief exoplanation from a building compliance expert, with further links.
Overheating guidance and tools for building designers
Guidance for dealing with element of building fabric control that have increasing importance.
Shading for housing, a design guide
From the Good Homes Alliance and British Blind and Shutter Association.
UK Standard Skills Classification (SSC)
A shared framework for describing skills needs.
Social media ban consultation comes to close
CIOB urges UK Government to consider social media’s role in careers guidance in ban debate.
The latest of eight Skills England apprenticeship units
The addition of battery manufacturing welcomed by ECA with a warning about the risks of fast-tracked apprenticeship units.
Building Control Independent Panel final report
A precis of a key report led by Dame Hackitt with full recommendations and link to the government response.
Building Safety recap April, 2026
A short and longer run-through of the month, with links to further information and sources.
CIAT May 2026 briefing.
From medieval scribes to modern word art.
ECA welcomes crackdown on late payment and push for clean energy, whilst CIOB seek fixed cladding removal timeframes.
Cyber Security in the Built Environment
Protecting projects, data, and digital assets: A CIOB Academy TIS.
Managing competence in the built environment
ITFG publishes new industry guide on how to meet the ICC principles.