Jury Statement:
This is a visionary conceptual plan, directly and clearly illustrating through cartoons how to sustainably accommodate one million new homes across a swath of English countryside stretching from Oxford to Milton Keynes to Cambridge. This vision soundly rejects auto-dependent sprawl in favor of bike and pedestrian networks, and imagines the revival of existing villages and small towns not as retirement centers so prevalent today, but as vibrantly growing hubs for young families living a sustainable lifestyle.
VeloCity makes a powerful statement about the importance of maintaining character of place while accommodating infill growth. To help communities choreograph their own village development, the plan proposes a strategic approach to planning and suggests design codes. A variety of two- to four-story clustered terrace houses, flats, co-housing, and live/work sheds are recommended, built to passive solar standards. New strategic cycling routes encourage active transportation. At the heart of each village is an emphasis on maintaining green open space for social exchange, productive gardens, and agriculture. The project shows how young families can be attracted to dying villages by the promise of a healthier, more active lifestyle.
There is a centuries-old tradition of pedestrian rights of way that create a fine web across England, linking villages and towns originally spaced a comfortable day’s walk from each other. This is the kind of network that is now envisioned by maximizing bicycle access across this area.
This inspirational project offers an exemplary model for future development, that because of its small scale approach is inherently deliverable. The jury wishes the interdisciplinary VeloCity team – an outstanding women-led collaborative effort involving six firms – great success in working with the National Infrastructure Commission to make these ideas and strategies a reality.
International
MAKING CITIES LIVABLE CONFERENCES
In concurrence with the judgment of its Design Awards Jury
Presents an
HONOR AWARD
For Excellence in
Designing Healthy, 10-Minute Neighborhoods
to
VeloCity:
Oxford to Cambridge Regional Corridor
by
Jennifer Ross, Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design, London, UK
Client
National Infrastructure Commission, UKP
Gallery: