Placing public transport at the heart of new building developments is an ‘idea whose time has truly come’, says the Urban Transport Group’s Chair
A new report highlights the value of building housing close to quality public transport links to avoid car-based urban sprawl and traffic congestion.
‘The place to be: How transit-orientated development can support good growth in the city regions’ report is from the Urban Transport Group, the UK’s network of city region transport authorities.
It suggests that transit-orientated development – the principle of putting public transport front and centre in new residential and commercial developments – offers the potential to meet housing need without undermining the green belt or creating more traffic congestion and sprawl. This includes through locating building schemes next to or as part of existing stations or transport hubs.
“Transit-orientated developments are an idea whose time has truly come,” says Urban Transport Group Chair Tobyn Hughes, Managing Director of Nexus.
“But if we are to embark on a new era of transit-orientated developments, and realise the benefits they can bring, we must overcome a series of obstacles and barriers around the planning and funding of these developments.”
City region authorities can play their part in making more transit-orientated developments happen, the group’s report says, but they require:
A national planning framework that favours transit-orientated developments over car-based, low density sprawl
A national funding network with more options for ensuring that value uplift from new developments can be used to improve transport connectivity
More influence over land held by national Government agencies which would be prime sites for transit-orientated developments
More devolution of powers over stations where a city region transport authority has the ambition and capacity to take on responsibilities
Measures to improve the planning capacity of local authorities in order to respond effectively, rapidly and imaginatively to opportunities for high-quality transit-orientated development.
