Campaigning for safe and vibrant streets, where people want to walk
By David Harrison, vice-chair, London Living Streets
It was a bitterly cold evening in January, but a capacity crowd of more than 100 people gathered for the official launch by London Living Streets and the Urban Design Group of two guides on low-traffic neighbourhoods.
The guides, published by Living Streets and London Cycling Campaign, include an introduction for policy-makers and campaigners and a more detailed ‘how to’ guide for council officers. Access them here.
The deadline approaches for comments on Greenwich’s Liveable Neighbourhood plans to remove the town centre’s gyratory and make the north and east sides traffic-free.
Continue reading “Respond now to support proposals to transform Greenwich town centre”
Westminster City Council has opened a public consultation into the future of the Oxford Street district this week.
After plans for pedestrianisation were put on hold by the council earlier this year, calls were made for urgent action to tackle the major problems facing Oxford Street, which will become even more acute when the Elizabeth Line opens.
Living Streets, the national charity for everyday walking and London Living Streets has campaigned for the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street for years and now wants to see radical plans to improve the street and surrounding neighbourhoods.
By Emma Griffin, vice-chair, London Living Streets
There’s a sense of giddiness in current plans for electric vehicles. Government’s Road to Zero strategy talks excitedly about an “electric vehicle revolution”, “all new cars and vans [being] effectively zero emission by 2040”, a “massive roll-out of infrastructure” and the “biggest technology advancement to hit UK roads since the invention of the combustion engine”.
These aspirations were put under closer scrutiny at a conference organised by London Living Streets and Urban Design Group on October 11.
Continue reading “Are electric vehicles a threat to cities? Conference report”
The following letter from London Living Streets vice chairman, David Harrison appeared in the Evening Standard, 9 July 2018.
Chris Haywood and the City of London Corporation are to be congratulated on their determination [“Pedestrian areas mulled to ease City of London overcrowding,” July 2] to address the Eastern Cluster, and especially the increasingly crowded streets around Bishopsgate and Liverpool Street station, by pedestrianisation and improving walking routes and crossings. Almost 500,000 people work in the City and the number is increasing.
Research published in the Journal of Transportation Research shows spectacular increases in walking and cycling as a result of Waltham Forest mini Holland programme.
By Emma Griffin, London Living Streets website manager
London Living Streets is thrilled to see Greater Manchester’s ambitious plans to create a city region for people, not vehicles.
The Beelines proposal, announced today by Greater Manchester’s cycling and walking commissioner Chris Boardman, is welcome for its focus on crossings to create a joined-up, safe walking and cycling network across the region; and filtered, or low-traffic neighbourhoods. These priorities match many of our campaign interests.
Continue reading “Greater Manchester plans UK’s largest walking and cycling network”
by Colin J Davis, of Streetscapes.online and author of Streetscapes: how to design and deliver great streets
Our campaign is for healthier, happier and more livable streets. What could be more uplifting than the splendid displays of flowers in, on and around the shop fronts of Chelsea during the week of the flower show?
Picking up the theme of love, emphasised at the royal wedding at Windsor the previous weekend, the Chelsea in Bloom displays were very individual but with firm coordination.
Continue reading “Flower power: Chelsea’s streets come alive in bloom”
One of the many noteworthy announcements from Hackney’s seventh cycling conference was that next year it will add ‘walking’ to its title.
This is welcome, not simply because this was one of Hackney Living Street’s demands in its campaign manifesto for the May elections, but also because it reflects an understanding that cycling is just one ingredient in a liveable city. If cities are for everyone — and not just motorists — they must encourage walking and living as well as cycling. Or as Andreas Røhl, Gehl Architects’ biking expert put it, ‘cycling isn’t the goal, it’s a means to an end’.
Listed below are some other key announcements and inspirations from last week’s event, many of which – we are happy to announce — originate from London Living Streets campaigns. Continue reading “Walking news from Hackney’s Cycling Conference”
London Living Streets and Urban Design Group are hosting a public event this month to celebrate the progress in improving London’s public realm.
The event will take place on Wednesday 23 May 2018, 6.15–8.15pm at The Gallery, 70 Cowcross Street, Farringdon, London EC1M 6EJ. Continue reading “London’s Public Realm”
London Living Streets 