Access Restrictions: Liveable Streets, Play
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L E P T S HORT POLICY BRIEFS - 3 J u n e 2 0 1 9 CITIZENS AND NEIGHBOURHOODS vulnerable users, especially children. To reduce the impact they have on children’s ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: LIVEABLE STREETS, health, several boroughs have been PLAY STREETS AND SCHOOL STREETS implementing school streets, including Lewisham, Islington and Camden. EVIDENCE Hackney has published a guide for local authorities who wish to explore the - One in three children in the UK are growing possibility of implementing school streets. up in cities with unsafe levels of particulate Boroughs and UK public authorities can pollution (Unicef UK, 2017). implement the measure by using - Exposure to air pollution may be harming all experimental traffic orders, which allow organs of the body (Schraufnagel & al., parking authorities to modify traffic or 2019). parking regulations for an 18-months period - 63% of teachers would support a ban on requiring no prior public consultation: motor vehicles outside schools (Sustrans, consultation takes place alongside the trial, 2019). allowing for citizen feedback on the actual - Nearly a third of children ages 2-15 are effects of the scheme. There may be some overweight or obese (UK National public backlash, but results tend to be government, Childhood obesity action plan, positive in the long run, with high levels of 2017). acceptance once the scheme is in place. This was the case in the pilot led by CHALLENGE S Croydon. Changing the way streets are used to Expanding on school streets and in prioritise pedestrians and vulnerable partnership with Public Health England, road users by restricting motorised thirteen boroughs are experimenting with vehicle access to some streets. ‘School Superzones’. The aim is to improve Restricting access to vehicles in the children’s’ health through a range of streets surrounding schools at school interventions within 400 meters around the run times or for longer periods to school. Measures include traffic reduction, reduce children’s exposure to bad air improvement of pedestrian footpaths and quality. restrictions on unhealthy food advertising. There is important flexibility for boroughs in More generally, transforming city the uptake of measures and the choice of streets into less ‘hostile’ places by location. closing off traffic, with soft or hard measures, for children to play (play Playstreets in London are supported by streets) and for everyone to enjoy London Play, a charity funded by the (liveable streets). Department of Health since 2013 to increase physical activity levels in children. LONDON CONTEX T Twenty-four boroughs have implemented play streets with the organisation’s help, The Greater London Authority and mostly at residents’ request. Residents play Transport for London’s Healthy Streets a very important role in grassroots push for Approach is a key element of the current the implementation of play streets. In the Mayor’s Transport Strategy. It consists of East London borough of Hackney, Hackney ten indicators including increased walking, Play Streets is a charity supported by the clean air or noise reduction. With boroughs borough and led by a member of the managing 95% of London’s roads, they are community. It offers resources for residents at the heart of this strategy. and for establishments to set up school play streets. Motorised vehicles on roads cause harm to health due to particulate pollution as well as London Play also conducts pilots such as noise and pose a potential threat to the Play Quarter Pilot in Enfield, Contact us: 59 ½ Southwark Street London SE1 0AL (UK) +44 (0)207 934 9643 / [email protected] complementing the school street closures safer space according to their local needs. with other measures at neighbourhood In 2016, some of these were especially scale to improve children’s experience. designed according to children’s needs, These include a peer buddy system for providing guidance for involving children in children to play and safe points, such as a the planning procedure. community café or a corner shop. The key in successfully organising such schemes is The Horizon 2020 Metamorphosis project is to include residents, local shop owners, also focusing on transforming schools and other relevant stakeholders. neighbourhoods to make them more welcoming for children. Their website Boroughs usually allow for residents to presents various case studies on trial road request a play street near them for a set or closures, the reuse of existing street space recurring date. In Hounslow for example, such as parking spaces or vegetable citizens can request it and if approved, streets (streets with plants and vegetation) have an open play street within six weeks, across the EU. School streets and play and for free. The council emphasises the streets do not require any specific importance of community involvement. equipment but can be complemented with Their timeframe is quite short, other tactical urbanism measures, such as the boroughs having longer implementation above-mentioned vegetable streets. periods: it is dependent on the authorities’ current scope to act. In terms of impact, in Beyond school and play streets, European an evaluation report, Hackney underline cities have experimented with road that although initially, interest for play closures, temporarily for events such as the streets started in relatively affluent areas, European Mobility Week or in a recurring requests to implement them now also come manner like Paris, who in 2016 introduced from more deprived areas of the borough. a monthly closure of circulation on the Champs-Élysées, its main avenue, and INSPIRATION FROM ELSEWHERE surrounding streets. The French city has also closed one of its major arteries to Bolzano in Northern Italy was the first local traffic to transform it into a leisure space authority to put in place school streets in the with bars, benches and sports grounds. 1990s, closing off streets 15 minutes before The implementation caused a divide in the and after school run times. The idea has public opinion regarding the potential report since then expanded across Europe and of traffic on other streets but is widely elsewhere. Major cities, such as Vienna appreciated by residents of the immediate and Edinburgh have made their school areas and tourists. street trials permanent. Access restrictions can be categorised In the UK, International NGO Friends of the differently according to purpose and Earth produced a briefing on how to duration, but globally serve a similar aim to implement School Streets, providing improve the urban resident’s quality of life. examples, a budget estimation for Costs range widely, with very low costs for implementation and demonstrating the small interventions such as temporary play positive outcomes of the schemes. streets (barriers) and higher costs for more Similarly, a toolkit was produced by substantial and long-standing schemes that European funded project Bambini on require more planning and political implementing play streets, providing a step- intervention such as the closure of a main by-step guide and examples. artery to traffic. Led by local non-profit Lab van Troje, the Ghent Living Streets experiment took place in the city from 2012 to 2017. Every year for a month, it allowed citizens to turn their streets into a Living Street and create a Contact us: 59 ½ Southwark Street London SE1 0AL (UK) +44 (0)207 934 9643 / [email protected] .