Shared space

About shared spaces

Shared space streets are streets that are open to motor traffic, with no difference in levels or markings of space for different users.

Shared space may be appropriate in new residential developments. It provides access to a small number of properties where there is no through motor vehicle traffic.

This design of streets can have a positive impact on the quality of the built environment. It reduces the dominance of motor traffic and provides opportunities to define the look of the area through surfacing.

Any shared surface should include design measures to help reduce the speeds of vehicles, ensuring that all road users can share the space on equal terms. The right choice of surface can also help reduce vehicle speeds.

Shared surfaces can cause problems for some disabled people and pose particular risks to people with sensory and/or information processing differences. Careful attention should be paid to:

managing parking
the positioning and quantity of planting and street furniture
tactile features for blind or vision impaired people which are required to enable them to navigate the space
drainage, which needs particular care because of the lack of conventional carriageway cross falls and kerbs. Centre line drainage can help in identifying the street as a shared surface

Shared space should not be confused with shared use, which is an off-carriageway route available for use by both pedestrians and cyclists

Additional resources

Shared spaces in Manual for Streets

Section 7.2 of Manual for Streets provides guidance on shared surface streets and squares.

Manual for Streets

Shared space in Manual for Streets 2

Section 2.9 of Manual for Streets 2 by the Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation looks at the characteristics, key issues and movement and place function of shared space.

Manual for Streets 2

Shared surface and street types in the Essex Design Guide

The street typologies in the Essex Design Guide include mews courts and shared private drives.

Essex Design Guide

Different types of streets in the Greater Manchester Streets for All Design Guide

Shared space is considered amongst the street typologies in the Greater Manchester Streets for All design guide.

Greater Manchester Streets for All Design Guide

Safety including routes through shared spaces in Design for the Mind

Section 7.6 in Design for the Mind by the British Standards Institution considers safety of pedestrian routes across shared spaces and designing for neurodivergent people.

Design for the Mind