Traffic Management & Green Spaces

This lesson focuses on two interconnected aspects of urban planning: traffic management (reducing the negative impacts of vehicles) and green spaces (providing environmental, social, and economic benefits in urban areas). Both are key components of sustainable urban development and feature prominently in AQA GCSE exam questions.

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Traffic Management

What Is Traffic Management?

Traffic management refers to strategies used to control the flow of vehicles, reduce congestion, improve safety, and minimise the environmental impact of road transport. It includes both engineering solutions (physical changes to roads) and demand management (influencing driver behaviour).

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Engineering Solutions

Traffic calming measures

• Speed bumps and humps: Slow traffic in residential areas, improving pedestrian safety
• Chicanes: Narrowing points that force drivers to slow down
• 20 mph zones: Increasingly common in UK residential areas and school zones
• Shared surfaces: Removing kerbs and barriers so pedestrians and vehicles share the road (e.g., Exhibition Road, London)