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Harlow North is being planned and designed according to proven principles of town making and sustainability.
Town making principles for Harlow North
Harlow North is being planned according to time-tested principles for the structure, scale and layout of the town, its constituent neighbourhoods, streets, civic and commercial places and spaces, productive landscape and ecology. These emphasise mixed use places and communities, great streets, public transport and adaptability of building design.
Streets are laid out on a grid or network, providing several routes to every destination. Most are relatively narrow and defined by buildings fronting the public realm. They contain traffic, parking, trees, pavements and buildings. Drivers and pedestrians are made equally welcome, comfortable and safe.
Neighbourhoods seamlessly connect but are limited in size, so most people live within a six-minute walk of the centre, where daily needs are provided for and locals and passers-by interact. Traffic is invited into the centre but it is managed for the pedestrian. Buses pass through. Generally, neighbourhood density increases from edge to centre.
Buildings are adaptable and suitable for mixed use. A mixture of small and large houses, outbuildings, apartment buildings, shops, restaurants and offices is compatible in size and massing.
Civic buildings (meeting halls, theatres, churches, clubs, museums, etc.) are often placed on squares and at the termination of street vistas, serving as landmarks.
Streetscape qualities and features such as continuous footpaths, street proportions, street trees, building orientation and setbacks are designed to encourage people to walk; they are brought together in the form of community codes.
Sustainability principles for Harlow North
Additional principles for good town-making have developed from the contemporary sustainability agenda.
• Existing infrastructure networks should be improved and utilised before new ones are justified.
• Walking and cycling and regular, clean and efficient public transport should be prioritised.
• Residents and other stakeholders should be involved in the planning and design process.
• Valuable local ecology should be conserved and enhanced wherever possible.
• Strategies should be determined for the optimisation of energy conservation and the local generation of renewable energy.
• Public parks, school sites and wetlands and other open spaces should be ecologically productive and integrated to maximise recreational use, environmental learning, civic involvement and community development opportunities. This connects residents to each other and to the place in which they live, reinforcing a sense of 'place' and deepening their commitment to the town.
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