A Home Zone is a residential area that seeks to meet the needs of all road users equally, where pedestrians, cyclists and motorised traffic share the road space. Children's play, social interaction, walking and cycling are all part of the normal use of a street within a Home Zone.
Link to the Home Zone News website.
Streets in a Home Zone are designed or redesigned:
- To make it easier for local people to use the space, rather than being dominated by the needs of passing local traffic
- For social use, where residents have the opportunity to use the street for a variety of purposes, only one of which is for the movement and parking of motor vehicles
- To have attractive places for children to play and people to meet
- To achieve an improved quality of life by building the environment around the needs of people rather than traffic
Vehicle movements are of course important but the vehicle is regarded as a slow moving guest rather than the dominant feature of the street.
Designating Home Zones
Section 74 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 enables local authorities to designate roads in areas for which they are the transport authority as Home Zones.
The Executive brought regulations into force in July 2002 to set out the procedures a local authority must follow when designating a road in their area as a Home Zone. Draft guidance to local authorities on implementing Home Zones was also published by the Executive in 2002.
Pilot Home Zones
Four pilot home zones projects initially started in Scotland -
- Aberdeen: Tillydrone area
- Dundee: a redevelopment of the former Royal Infirmary site
- Edinburgh: Caledonian area
- Thurso: Ormlie area
A study of these pilot Home Zones is being carried out for the Scottish Executive by Land Use Consultants.
By late 2005, the Edinburgh and Aberdeen schemes had been suspended due to difficulties. The Dundee and Thurso schemes are progressing well and the study is due end in late 2006. A report will then be published on the lessons to be learned from all four schemes. The guidance may be updated in light of the study's findings.
In addition to the pilot schemes, other Home Zones projects are being developed across Scotland. Further information can be found at the link below.
Further Information