Chapter II: The theoretical basis

Characteristics of environmental areas: introduction

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The idea of the network is comparatively easy to understand, but the concept of environmental areas is more difficult. These are the ‘rooms’ of the town; they are the areas or groups of buildings and other development in which daily life is carried on, and where, as a consequence, it is logical that the maintenance of a good environment is of great importance. The term ‘precinct’ (a long-standing term in town planning) cannot be used for these areas because it now connotes the idea of a place that is entirely free from motor traffic. It cannot be emphasised too strongly that the environmental areas envisaged here may be busy areas in which there is a considerable amount of traffic, but there is no extraneous traffic, no drifts of traffic filtering through without business in the area. Any kind of development—residential, industrial, commercial, etc. or even mixed uses—can form an environmental area, but naturally the environmental standards will vary according to the kind of area, just as they vary between, say, the kitchen of a house and the bedrooms. Safety will be an overriding consideration in all kinds of area, but, to give an example, much more importance would be attached to freedom from noise in a residential than in an industrial area.