Aylesbury Vale Area Design Supplementary Planning Document

Introduction: Site layout, streets and spaces

Well designed streets and public spaces that are accessible to everyone contribute significantly to the success of places. These should be laid out to be comfortable, stimulating and attractive environments that encourage social interaction, act as meeting points for communities, add value to surrounding properties and generally add to the character of a neighbourhood.

The design of the public realm (the streets and spaces around buildings) is as important as the design of buildings. All too often in new development these elements are given less design consideration or dictated by standardised, engineered solutions.

The guidance in this chapter will help applicants to develop the structure of their development into a more detailed layout. It emphasises the importance of the public realm as well as the design of social spaces that contribute to the success of an area.