Principles of Active Design
These principles put people’s health and wellbeing at the centre of city, neighbourhood and street, and open space design.
Sport England and Public Health England have partnered together to produce the Active Design guide. It brings together the key planning considerations when designing places and spaces.
It provides advice on designing and adapting the spaces we live in so that they encourage activity. When we follow these principles, the active choice should be the easy choice.
Active Design is an important tool which has been successfully used in a range of contexts and settings. Many of these principles are already factored into 20 Minute Neighbourhoods, Healthy Streets and Building for a Healthier Life.
Active Design Principles
These are 10 key principles based around physical activity, health and wellbeing, and community strength to inject new considerations into how we build our towns and cities:
- Activity for all
- Walkable communities
- Connecting walking and cycling routes
- Co-location of community facilities
- Network of multifunctional open space
- High quality streets and spaces
- Appropriate infrastructure
- Active buildings
- Management, maintenance, monitoring & evaluation
- Activity promotion and local champions
User Guides, Resources and Case Studies
We’ve handpicked some of the best user guides that can be used in a wide variety of settings.
Find out more about Active Design, and download helpful resources and case studies
