Home zones are residential streets in which motor vehicles take
second place to people. They’ve been a feature of some parts of
continental Europe for 25 years, but have only recently begun to
be discussed seriously in Britain. The government has recently
asked local authorities to nominate neighbourhoods to be turned
into such zones. The term is still uncommon in the UK, at the
moment mostly being the jargon of traffic engineers and local
environmental campaigners. Similar ideas have been put forward
in other English-speaking countries, but the term is even less
well known than in Britain. In continental home zones,
pedestrians and cyclists have legal right of way, and motor
vehicles are restricted to not much more than walking pace. The
distinction between vehicle and pedestrian areas is deliberately
blurred; trees, seating and play areas are added so that the
streets become open spaces for walking, sitting, playing and
talking. Home zones are marked with an internationally
recognised sign showing a walker,