Statement concerning the revised draft Oxford Core Strategy

Oxford Pedestrians Association makes the following comments regarding Oxford City Council’s revised draft Core Strategy (the Strategy):

The Strategy neglects the social role and the human use of urban space:

The street is, or should be, a space for social interaction, for taking exercise, for recreation – for human activity. These aspects of our streets – where we live and which we enter whenever setting foot outdoors, are absent from the Strategy.

Walking for travel is undoubtedly sustainable in every sense, and there are many references in the Strategy to the contribution that ‘walking, cycling and public transport’ can make. But ‘walking’ is much more than travel. While being on a bus or bicycle infers journey making, being out of doors on foot does not; ‘travel’ is only one of the reasons for ‘walking’.

There is no strategy for enhancing the social and recreational roles of streets and for the non travel aspects of being outdoors on foot. The Strategy addresses the street as a space into which buildings and streetscape features may be introduced, but ignores how the way streets are used can make them hostile to others. The Strategy uses terms like ‘urban renaissance’, ‘green spaces’ and ‘open spaces’ but nowhere does it describe urban space or discuss strategies for its provision and management.

Section 2 of Strategy Table 11 – ‘Predicting the effects of the Core Strategy’ states that ‘the preferred approach for townscape character and urban design promotes local distinctiveness and design quality’. This addresses the provision of buildings and streetscape features but overlooks the management of citizens’ and others’ use of urban spaces including streets.

The Strategy needs to state an intention to manage not only the physical components of urban space but also the way people use space. It needs to confirm that the social roles of streets are superior to their use as storage places for private possessions or as collections of municipal bric-a-brac. Otherwise there will continue to be indifference to official actions like the removal of street benches seen as ‘attracting undesirables’, and to the invasion of footways by drivers seeking storage space for stationary vehicles.

The Strategy should address these matters in respect of both present-day and future streets and other urban spaces. Not to do so means continuing to neglect an important factor in so many aspects of sustainable lifestyles. The Strategy lacks a perspective on the street as a place. The omission needs to be addressed.

Oxford Pedestrians Association – June 2009