1966 was a year that many remember, firstly because of the epic success of the English football team and, secondly, because it was the year that a Department for Transport document (DfT) ‘Roads in Urban Areas’ was released. I expect many will associate the year with the first of these!

While the world cup winners inspired football teams across the country, the DfT document shaped the towns and cities that we live in today. The 1966 document prioritised car use, suggesting “urban roads should be designed to be safe and permit the free flow of traffic”.

Prioritising the car was an approach to transport planning that often left a negative mark on the street pattern of our towns. So, today, it is refreshing to work with consultants and local authority officers endorsing the NPPF vision-led approach (see paragraph 109) to identify and pursue opportunities to promote walking, cycling and public transport use, which has been key to unlocking vital strategic sites which were once considered unsustainable.

We are now in a time where professionals in both the public and private sector acknowledge that the ‘predict and provide’ school of thought has had its day; i.e preparing schemes that anticipate increased car use, create the space for it, and then do it all over again. As today’s transport professionals embrace ‘decide and provide’, we must gain a common understanding of what the decisions are.

If the decisions to be taken are about agreeing transport priorities, we are, as a consequence, reflecting on the changing of priorities, from vehicle to people-centric. As a result, many professionals are now arriving at the resultant impact on wellbeing, the health consequences of sedentary lifestyles, and the value of locating homes close to amenities and facilities.

The NPPF is a now a regulatory framework that allows Masterplanners and Transport Planners to think creatively. People, resources and the challenges of the regulations involved are not very different from place to place, but pre-judging the challenges, or working creatively, is different.

The positive reception of this new, vision-led approach to transport planning has been encouraging (much like the recent performance of the current English football team). It marks a clear departure from the outdated car-first approach of shaping towns and, instead, creating healthier, more connected communities.

Just as 1966 redefined football history, vision-led planning is set to reshape our towns for generations to come! Do get in touch if you want to understand more.