Two think tanks have drawn up a blueprint for 12 new towns around England to create 550,000 homes.
The plans by Britain Remade and Create Streets suggest the new towns should encourage walking and cycling, incorporate plenty of green space and feature mid-rise buildings.
To speed up planning, the groups suggest that certain building designs could be pre-approved for use in the different proposed towns.
Developments should be mixed use, combining both residential and commercial buildings in the same areas, according to the think tanks’ report, Creating New Towns Fast and Well.
It proposes “gentle density” housing, with buildings between three and eight storeys with a view to striking the right balance between “productivity, sustainability and community appeal”.
In order to quickly deliver housing in areas where there is the greatest need, the plan includes expanding Cambridge, Oxford and York, as well as creating new communities in Gloucestershire, Warwickshire and Essex in places already served by train lines.
The report argues its proposals would boost the economy by £13-28bn annually by improving access to well-paid jobs in cities around the country.
It follows the government’s creation of The New Towns Taskforce – an independent 10-member panel established last month and chaired by Sir Michael Lyons.
Its job is to recommend the “next generation” of new towns that will each provide at least 10,000 new homes.
Create Streets founder Nicholas Boys Smith says “All our government-led attempts to create new towns and settlements over the last 60 years have basically failed.
“Too few homes, too far apart and too slowly built.
“No real town centres, little walkability and very little public transport.
“Ugly civic centres that only a mother could love. No pull. No place-magnetism.
“On the few occasions that we’ve actually built something, they have not been towns but sprawling suburbs. ‘Car parks beside stations’ is the model not ‘new towns beside stations’.
“It is depressing, unsustainable and stupid.
“As a society, we need to relearn how to become town builders again.
“We need to relearn how to fall back in love with the future and create new settlements that are actually better than old settlements.
“Frankly, that will require enormous changes from the planning, design and development sectors.
“The need for new homes is urgent.
“The daily inequalities being inflicted upon the young, and the poor by the sclerotic housing supply are happening now.”
Britain Remade chief executive Sam Richards says: “The government’s commitment to building new towns to address Britain’s chronic housing crisis is a once-in-a-generation opportunity.
“By building at gentle densities, not only can more homes be built on less land, but emissions can also be reduced.
“People living in cities emit 50% less carbon than those who live outside them.”
