Planning processes

Planning for pedestrians will ideally form part of an integrated planning activity, however, due to the historic lack of focus and under investment for walking, there is an urgent need to put additional focus on planning for walking so that it becomes an easy choice for many daily travel needs. District plan provisions and consenting processes must also work towards improved urban form so that walking trips are an easy choice.

Outcomes to make walking an easy choice

There are a range of outcomes that can influence whether walking is a viable and preferred mode choice for many daily travel needs, either alone or complementary to other modes, for example, public transport.

Outcomes that influence and support more people to walk more regularly are much broader than purely providing more walking infrastructure.

Examples of a range of outcomes are outlined in the table below along with appropriate methods or tools that could be applied in these contexts. These outcomes range from ensuring land use and transport are integrated, removing severance and reallocating how streets are used through to travel behaviour change initiatives.

Further information on the methods and tools are provided in the plans, programmes and processes table below. 

Table: Outcomes to make walking an easy choice [PDF, 157 KB]

Processes that can support walking

There are a range of plans, programmes and processes that, although not solely focussed on pedestrians, may benefit pedestrians as summarised in the table document below. The scale and scope, when to use, and how they benefit pedestrians is provided in the table along with links to further guidance.

The following plans, programmes and processes are included in the table:

• Business cases
• Sustainable urban mobility plans (mode shift plans)
• Spatial plan / Future development strategy
• Speed management planning
• Local area traffic management plans
• Low traffic neighbourhoods
• Innovating streets for people programme
• Neighbourhood accessibility plans
• Network Operating Framework
• Master plans / structure plans
• District plans
• Walking strategy and walking action plans
• Parking strategy and parking management plans
• Organisational travel plans
• Safer journeys for schools*
• Station access plan or area plan 

Table: Plans, programmes and processes that can help planning for walking [PDF, 179 KB]

*Note that as of July 2022 Safer journeys for schools guide and companion document Safer journeys for schools: guidelines for school communities are being retired. This guidance was developed under the Safer Journeys road safety strategy which preceded Road to Zero. Most of it has now been superseded by the new regulation, targets and guidance as part of the new framework for speed management. In addition there were significant changes to the way speed school speed limits were set in the revision of the Setting of Speed limits Rule in 2022. This was significantly different from previous process and guidance for school speed limits. Current general speed management guidance and the Setting of Speed Limits Rule can be found at the links below:

Speed Management Guide

The Setting of Speed Limits Rule

Indicators of success

There are currently no standard indicators for assessing the pedestrian environment. Potential indicators of success for walking are shown in the following table.

Table: Suggested indicators of success for walking plans and programmes