Connect with Tim PharoahConnect with Tim Pharoah

The Quality of London's Residential Environment

The Quality of London's Residential Environment (1994, London Planning Advisory Committee): the Study Findings section reports that "car parking was the most frequently identified factor affecting the environmental quality of the 50 residential areas surveyed . . . the environmental quality of many areas has already been eroded to the point where more radical treatment including the remodelling of the street is necessary to restore environmental quality." It also argued that "A relationship is assumed by current planning policies which typically require off-street parking to be provided with conversions and refuse planning permission where this cannot be provided. The research questions this relationship, highlighting not only the complex pattern of change in car ownership over time in any given street as residents move through different stages of the life and car-ownership cycles, but also the fact that the future growth in residential parking demand will result mainly from increased car ownership rates rather than population increase."

The report includes a section on car-free housing, an innovation which at the time was becoming evident in Germany, for example in Bremen, Berlin, Nuremberg and Tübingen. It suggested that policies for parking in housing could be related to accessibility measures, in particular access to public transport. Car ownership was found on average to be lower in locations with good public transport accessibility.

The report included a section on Traffic and the Residential Environment, focusing on the need for lower speeds and traffic calming measures.(see Traffic Calming Guidelines, Devon CC, 1991)

The report covered other aspects of residential quality including:

  • Landscape
  • Ambient qualities
  • Maintenance
  • Built form
  • Privacy
  • Security
  • Public Realm
LocationLondon UK
Date(s)1994
Client(s)London Planning Advisory Committee
Team(s)Llewelyn Davies with Tim Pharoah (South Bank University) and Environment Trust Associates

keywords

Residential development, residential environment, parking, housing, transport, LPAC