Mixing it—a new approach to highway design

Streets and highways in the UK are normally designed to ensure that people in cars are kept moving, often at the expense of people on foot or bikes. The young, elderly, disabled and poor are particularly affected by prioritising motor traffic in urban areas. Some highway engineers are now adopting new and innovative multidisciplinary approaches to designing human-scale social streetscapes. This paper explores the possibility of introducing a creative element into highway design and emphasises the importance of involving communities throughout the process. The Dings Home Zone project in Bristol is presented as a detailed case study that provides insights into the challenges and benefits of creative highway design.