Home Zone Design Guidelines

The Home Zones book is available directly from:

Institute of Highway Incorporated Engineers (IHIE)

De Morgan House

58 Russell Square

London

WC1B 4HS

Tel: 020 7436 7487

Fax: 020 7436 7488

Email: secretary@ihie.org.uk

The Institute of Highway Incorporated Engineers, June 2002

In its 92 pages this invaluable book covers definitions of home zones, detailed guidance for creating one and gives information about 12 case studies in England and Wales. Published by the Institute of Highway Incorporated Engineers (IHIE) it covers home zones built in existing streets (retrofit schemes) as well as those built from the ground up. The IHIE intends that this document will be revised and republished in 2006, after completion of the Home Zone Challenge programme.

For £28 purchasers get 2 copies for the price of one. In a pocket in the back cover there is a CD-ROM bearing the whole book in the Adobe Portable Document (PDF) format. This enables readers to view the document on screen and to copy (with due acknowledgement) extracts and illustrations.

The guidelines were written by a multi-disciplinary editorial team ably led by Phil Jones of WSP. There was overlap between this team and that working with Mike Biddulph on his Planning and designing home zones published 6 months earlier by the Policy Press (ISBN 1 86134 371 X). Where that book is aimed more at planners, residents and politicians, the newer publication givers harder criteria for production of a successful home zone. It is also able to include for the first time the UK version of the home zone sign seen at woonerven in the Netherlands as well as at their German and Danish equivalents.

The book's introduction sets the context and is illustrated with photos from British and Continental schemes. It makes the important points that home zones are about promoting quality of life and that although introduction of a home zone can contribute to road safety, the main benefit to local people is a change in how the street can be used. Before setting off into comfortable territory establishing road widths and sight line distances, the tricky subject of definition is tackled. The importance of people-centric design is emphasised. A separate section, What a Home Zone, is Not reminds designers that a home zone is much more than a 20mph zone. The differences between retrofit and new-build schemes and the legal and policy framework are discussed.

The 'meat' of the book is the design guidance. This begins by covering the planning process and a review of the place for home zones in the urban street network. The suggestion is made that a home zone might very often be the yolk within a wider 20mph zone fried egg. Figures on traffic flow, numbers of households and distance through the home zone, based on extensive Dutch experience, are recast for the UK. Layout and physical design is covered under subheadings covering design for activity (including play), people and vehicles, parking and safety. The concept of 'perception of risk, as a tool to achieve reduced speeds is used and the book acknowledges the potential conflict with the conventional safety audit approach. The all-important subjects of maintenance and adoption by the Highway Authority are discussed. In order to achieve variety and local ownership it is suggested that the Authority might not be the most appropriate body to adopt every single element within a home zone.

Information is the given on the current situation at twelve case study projects. Four of them are in the Department for Transport pilot programme, two were built before the term home zone was coined and the others are at various stages of development. The emphasis is more on retrofit than new build. The descriptions are concise and well illustrated with photographs and plans. Links and contact e-mail addresses are given throughout.

Comprehensive appendices and references complete the usefulness of the book as a resource. This is a book that should be in all technical libraries and should be read by engineers, urban designers, planners, architects and academics with an interest in our urban environment.