Villages
ConnectedCity villages are part of a new green town or new green quarter. They are always grouped around a pedshed centre with a station, which must be open before the new dwellings are occupied, so that residents have services and inter-town transport from the outset and don’t depend on cars. This is a universal stipulation.
Vision from 2050
All ConnectedCity villages follow the pedshed principles and ConnectedCity guidelines.
They are human in scale, small enough for the whole layout of the village to be understood and visualised. Some people are acquainted with almost everyone in the village.
They are surrounded by a green infrastructure network of trees, vegetable plots and open space, yet closely linked to neighbouring villages, the town or pedshed centre by paths and walkways.
Most of the village is terraced energy-efficient family houses, with private open space and communal greens and play areas.
A bus/PRT route runs through the village, with stops serving mixed-use developments on the edges of the village and at the village centre, where flats and cottages for singles and couples without children are located.
Housing for low-income households is pepperpotted in the general housing.
Some parts are developed by the volume house builders, others by small builders or co-operatives, and there are plots for those wishing to build their own house.
Primary schools are adjacent to the green corridor at each end of the village where they can be shared with the next village.
They vary in a variety of respects:
The high streets on the bus/PRT route and the village greens or gardens vary greatly in form.
In smaller towns villages tend to be low rise, their high densities achieved through compact layouts.
Those in new green quarters of large towns are sometimes higher rise, with more flats and houses with terrace gardens in place of gardens.
They are 300 metres to 1 kilometer from the pedshed core, and each approximately 20-25 hectares. Their densities vary from approximately 50-80 dwellings per hectare or 150-200 persons per hectare and they have a population of between 5,000-7,000.
All houses have private gardens, but they can take many different forms.
All villages are ‘Home Zones’ with cars admitted for parking but no through vehicle routes. Pedestrians have priority and weather protected walkways.
Villages are distinct and separated from each other
Low rise housing with front and rear gardens, and often communal private open space, is linked to local shops, schools, etc. by covered walkways which then lead on to the pedshed centre.