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Active Design

Active Design sets out how the design of our environments can help people to lead more physically active and healthy lives - it's about helping to create 'active environments'.

Where we live, work, travel and play has a major role in shaping our activity choices.

By applying Active Design’s 10 principles to our built and natural environments, we can create active environments that encourage people to be active through their everyday lives. 

With a shared belief and commitment to the great value that well designed places can have on health and wellbeing, we've worked with Active Travel England (ATE) and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) to produce this updated version of the Active Design guide.

What is Active Design?

The guide seeks to help planners, designers and everyone involved in delivering and managing our places to create and maintain active environments. 

The foundation principle of ‘Activity for all’ is supported by the remaining principles which are brought together under the three themes of ‘Supporting active travel’, ‘Active, high-quality places & spaces’ and ‘Creating & maintaining activity’.

Image illustrating the 10 principles of Active Design, with the foundational principle of activity for all. The principles are: walking communities, providing connected active travel routes, mixing uses and co-locating facilities, having a network of multi-functional open spaces, high-quality streets and spaces, providing activity infrastructure, active buildings inside and out, maintaining high-quality flexible spaces, activating spaces.

Launch webinar

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