Healthy Place Making and the National Model Design Code: Development Facing the Public Realm

Our National Model Design Code series focuses on content within the National Model Design Code, specifically centring on its illustrations (all provided with thanks and credit to Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) and how such design has the potential to influence the development of healthy places.

This item’s illustration for review:

We all interact with a combination of public and private spaces on a daily basis.

The way in which we design and allow for each of these has an impact on people’s enjoyment and experience of their local place, as well as the decisions they choose to make – such as how they move around and interact with their built and natural environment.

Using a National Model Design code illustration as an example, we will consider how design decisions influence these choices through a health lens.

The design provides a mix of private and public space.
Within a single block of development, housing and commercial development or other amenities provide co-location of facilities and amenities. In doing so, services become accessible, particularly for those within close proximity, reducing reliance on private vehicles and other forms of transport.
This provides potential to improve air quality as a result of providing green infrastructure, and also due to the increased ease of active travel.

The development consistently faces the public realm.
It is evident that none of the uses included within the design ‘turn their back’ to the street. Ensuring that buildings consistently face the street provides a more aesthetically pleasing environment, but also provides natural surveillance and a sense of safety. As a result, the development has the potential to reduce the risk of crime and anti-social behaviour, provide a sense of safety, and encourage residents and visitors to walk, cycle and explore the local area and amenities.

Intelligent street design.
The design of the streets provide relatively tight corners and avoids wide bends and large crossing points for pedestrians. The result is the likelihood that vehicles will move more slowly and create a greater sense of safety, as well as minimising noise pollution.

Unobstructive parking provision.
The inclusion of parking provision, which blends with tree planting, provides for the needs of residents and visitors alike in a way which avoids encroachment onto the street – providing easier vehicle movement and a more attractive proposition for active travel by reducing the need for cyclist in particular navigate around parked vehicles.

Do you wish to provide further comments on this illustration? We welcome additional commentary from Healthy Place Making users, so if you have thoughts on additional benefits of this design that haven’t been mentioned above, or suggestions on how the design could be further improved to support health, please let us know.

You can use the enquiry button at the bottom of this page to submit your thoughts. Don’t forget to let us know which page your comments relate to!