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
The first line of defence against rain, wind and snow.
Building Safety recap January, 2026
What we missed at the end of last year, and at the start of this...
National Apprenticeship Week 2026, 9-15 Feb
Shining a light on the positive impacts for businesses, their apprentices and the wider economy alike.
Applications and benefits of acoustic flooring
From commercial to retail.
From solid to sprung and ribbed to raised.
Strengthening industry collaboration in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Institute of Construction and The Chartered Institute of Building sign Memorandum of Understanding.
A detailed description from the experts at Cornish Lime.
IHBC planning for growth with corporate plan development
Grow with the Institute by volunteering and CP25 consultation.
Connecting ambition and action for designers and specifiers.
Electrical skills gap deepens as apprenticeship starts fall despite surging demand says ECA.
Built environment bodies deepen joint action on EDI
B.E.Inclusive initiative agree next phase of joint equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) action plan.
Recognising culture as key to sustainable economic growth
Creative UK Provocation paper: Culture as Growth Infrastructure.
Futurebuild and UK Construction Week London Unite
Creating the UK’s Built Environment Super Event and over 25 other key partnerships.
Welsh and Scottish 2026 elections
Manifestos for the built environment for upcoming same May day elections.
Advancing BIM education with a competency framework
“We don’t need people who can just draw in 3D. We need people who can think in data.”




















