Home Zones: A Planning and Design Handbook by Mike Biddulph

Abstract

Children, Youth and Environments Vol. 14 No. 1 (2004) ISSN: 1546-2250 Home Zones: A Planning and Design Handbook Biddulph, Mike (2002). Bristol, UK: The Policy Press; 74 pages. $25.00 (paper). ISBN 186134371X. Since the 1970s when a new residential street called aWoonerf was first introduced in the City of Delft, The Netherlands, it has been regarded as one of the most innovative design concepts for neighborhood streets. Contrary to the conventional street layouts that tended to separate pedestrian paths from auto routes, the Woonerf, creates “shared streets,” boldly integrating walking and driving through reduced automobile speeds and more street amenities in the public spaces immediately around the homes (BenJoseph 1995). However, except for in a number of northern European cities, especially in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany,Woonerf remained more of a desirable street concept than a regular neighborhood design practice. The Woonerf schemes were more often discussed among researchers for their potential than among practitioners for their implementation in most countries outside the European continent.[1] Home Zones, the English-language expression of Woonerf, has been published as a part of the UK’s recent efforts to implement the Dutch concept into the British setting. This book is a reflection of the increased demand for more livable residential neighborhoods. The author, Mike Biddulph, an urban designer and lecturer in the Department of City and Regional Planning at Cardiff University in the UK, largely draws from his professional experience with 14 pilot home zone projects implemented during the 1990s in various parts of the UK. In essence, Home Zones is a design handbook, a very useful tool kit that charts how to promote Woonerf in ordinary 267 residential neighborhoods from pre-initiative phases to postimplementation stages. Within its nine chapters, Home Zones: A Planning and Design Handbook delineates both the planning processes and design strategies of the Woonerf system in an easy-to-follow format. After the initial chapter, which provides brief background information on this approach to street design, Chapter 2 defines what home zones are; Chapter 3 explains the history of the home zone concept in the UK and how the government has supported it, while Chapter 4 provides a practical set of criteria to assess the suitability of a home zone area. Chapter 5 briefly summarizes what can (and cannot) be achieved through introducing home zones to residential neighborhoods. Chapter 6 and 7 touch on planning processes for residents and designers to follow; Chapter 8 contains home zone design details; and Chapter 9 suggests principles to sustain home zone ideas and practices in the UK. Home Zones’ main audiences are residents, city officials, engineers, developers, planners, landscape architects, and architects. The author did a fine job of compiling relevant and useful step-by-step guides for these readers. This kind of comprehensive yet succinct guideline is a welcome reference for both practitioners and students of streets. One of the strong points of this handbook, in the reviewer’s judgment, is that it effectively articulates the critical dynamic between the planning process, the stakeholders’ participation, and the funding sources, as well as the referable design standards of Woonerf configurations. This book will be most useful to those who need practical guidelines for promoting home zones in their neighborhoods. Along with this handbook, a recent video, called Home Zones: The UK Experience would be a good visual supplement for community meetings.[2] For those who desire more in-depth discussion on this subject, beyond the practical checklists, Biddulph elaborates on the concepts in a separate, researchsupported article (Biddulph 2003). 268 The UK agencies that were involved in the publication ofHome Zones- Children’s Play Council, Transport 2000, Sustrans and the Architectural Foundation- represent the current players promoting home zones in the UK. The participation of another major institution, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, known for its social policy and social housing development in the UK, subtly indicates the social motivations driving the home zones. Indeed, this Home Zones handbook is published not by a conventional publisher of architecture or urban design, but by the Policy Press, which focuses its publications on social equity issues and other public policy matters. An insight from the UK experience with home zones...