DB32 and the design of good urban streets

Abstract

Good streets play a vital role in making cities work well: they provide networks for circulation, spaces for human interaction, conduits for services and (less tangibly) they define urban character. However, street design has become dominated by the requirements of the motor car and statutory services, enforced by legislation and standards. The other functions, equally important, have been pushed aside, leading to a decline in street quality and the urban environment. The problems caused by the unimaginative following of DB32 were addressed by the DETR in 1998 in its publication Places, Streets and Movement which showed how streets could be designed for the full range of functions, in particular promoting walking and cycling. This approach to street design reflects the Government's wider sustainability agenda, but it is often incompatible with the car-dominated standards of DB32. Most streets still give priority to the motor car, mainly because it is easier and safer, both for developers and local authorities, simply to follow the Standards than to take an imaginative approach to streets. DB32 needs to be revised to end the contradictions and to bring it into line with the more recent guidance, allowing local distinctiveness and good design, and recognising the full range of a street's functions.