ABSTRACT
A reduction in the number and length of commuter trips, seen as one of the objectives of sustainable development, has become an important element of the development plan process. One way in which local planners are seeking to achieve fewer and shorter commuter trips is by attempting to create an approximate numerical balance between homes and jobs. Indeed, policy guidance issued by the central government in the UK is to advise local authorities, at both the county and district level, how to work towards achieving a balance between employment and housing levels (DoE 1996 para 5.24). The consequence is that many structure and local plans now contain policies intended to create what is often referred to as 'homes-jobs balance' in settlements. This chapter investigates whether balanced settlements are associated with higher degrees of journey to work self containment in England. An earlier paper (Breheny, Foot and Archer, 1998) used district councils in England as the basic unit of analysis. Here, the focus is at the lowest level of geographical area for which data are readily available from the 1991 Census; that is, English census wards.
