Britain's Best and Worst Streetscapes - THE RESULTS
Over the past few weeks hundreds of Today listeners been nominating streets they believe are worthy of the title 'Best' and 'Worst' in Britain. The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) has been processing and assessing the submissions and come up with the definitive list of the nation's model and horror roads.
The streets listed are the ones that received the largest number of nominations, with some weighting by CABE's planning experts who assessed how they fitted the criteria of a poorly or well designed streetscape. Click on the street name to read some of the listener comments.
CLICK HERE to read the transcipt of a webchat with CABE's Dr Edward Hobson (20 September)
The Results:
BRITAIN'S WORST STREETS
1. Streatham High Road, London:
"a junction which defies belief and is permanently marked by a single ever shifting traffic cone ... Met yellow signs advertising violent crime".
2. Cornmarket, Oxford:
"this newly pedestrianised street is 'a disgrace', 'an example of small mindedness, inefficiency and ineptitude', 'filthy dirty', 'smelly' and 'an embarrassment".
3. Drakes Circus, Plymouth:
"run down, decrepit, unpopular with locals, windswept and outdated - post-war design at its worst".
4. Maid Marian Way, Nottingham:
"dubbed the ugliest street in Europe ... municipal engineers are doing their best to maintain its position".
5. Leatherhead High Street, Surrey:
"an example of cheap and thoughtless pedestrianisation taking the heart out of a whole town".
BRITAIN'S BEST STREETS
1. Grey Street, Newcastle upon Tyne:
"a street on a human scale with a grand vision".
2. High Pavement, Nottingham:
"this street can hold its head up amongst the best in Europe".
3. Buchanan Street, Glasgow:
"a wide pedestrian street, well lit, clean, good public seating, attractive tree planting".
4. New Street, Birmingham:
"a series of public spaces which has relieved the second city from its concrete stranglehold".
5. Water Street/Castle Street, Liverpool:
"great ambiance of street cafes".
The regional results page
CABE's 'Streets Of Shame' website.
