New research suggests housing developers are locking people into unhealthy and expensive car-dependent lifestyles by failing to provide infrastructure or access to healthier travel options, including walking, cycling or car sharing.
The research by walking charity Living Streets Scotland for CoMoUK was carried out over a 12 month period and investigated how easily people could live in new developments without a car. The report, “Progress on Low Car Neighbourhoods in Scotland” details significant failings in the location and design of housing, which limited choices for residents in terms of walking, cycling, public transport and car clubs.
The research looked at top level planning policies, reviewed examples of best practice and interviewed residents.
Stuart Hay, Director of Living Streets Scotland said: “Local planning departments are storing up massive problems in terms of congestion, air pollution and inactivity by building car-dependence into new housing developments.
“People deserve a choice to walk, cycle or take public transport; instead developers are delivering housing in the wrong places, with the wrong infrastructure, and with very poor access to local shops and public transport.”
The charity is calling for simple and low cost measures from developers, including well-maintained networks of footpaths.
Hay continued:“Councils and developers should be going back to recent developments to fix issues and learn from their mistakes, something that isn’t happening at the moment.”
Susan Jeynes, CoMobility Specialist for CoMoUK, said: “It is great that Scotland has the policies in place to support reducing reliance on private cars in new developments and encourage more active lifestyles; however, this study shows there is a gap between the policy and the reality.
“The report shows there is potential demand for car clubs in new developments that needs to be explored. CoMoUK is keen to work with planners and developers to help identify how new developments can benefit from designing in shared transport, both for the residents and the economic opportunity for developers.”
Images (attached): Athletes’ Village, Dalmarnock and parent struggling to cross the road (Winchburgh, West Lothian. Photographer: Shona McMillan, October 2017.
The research
A summary of national policy can be found here: https://como.org.uk/wp-
Research in 2017 showed only six out of Scotland 32 local authorities had clear policies on sustainable travel on new developments.
Living Streets struggled to find many studies which could be considered best practice. Of the five studies identified, only one (Chapelton) promises to deliver the government’s ambition; each of the others presented significant barriers to lower car use.
The full report can be downloaded here https://como.org.uk/wp-
| Development | Lack of local shops & facilities to walk to | Poor pavement quality and maintenance | Limited bus services | Missing walking and cycle links | Poor information on transport options |
| West Pilton, Edinburgh | X | X | |||
| Athletes Village, Glasgow | X | X | |||
| Winchburgh, West Lothian | X | X | X | ||
| Whitfield Dundee | X | X | X | X |
Car clubs work best where there are a range of transport options and choices. Notably only one development – West Pilton – was able to support this option. West Pilton was the only development with a high quality and frequent bus service, a factor likely to explain fewer homes needing a second car. The research found that home owners would welcome this choice if offered.
The failure to deliver travel choices and the creation of new developments to support walking, cycling, public transport and car clubs is perhaps unsurprising as only 25% of planners were convinced the system did enough to promote travel choice. The majority thought development is often not near public transport. Only 9% of planners actually had the time to go back to the developments they had approved.
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