Town centre location

Town center property 

The location of a town centre should be an aspect of a broad concept for the relationship between built and open land. At Harlow, the town centre and all the neighbourhoods are located on hills which are separated by 'green wedges' in the valleys of the River Stort and the Todd Brook. At Hemel Hempstead the town centre is in a valley but other urban areas are on plateau tops separated from one another by a park system in the valleys of the Rivers Gade and Bulborne. The plan works better at Hemel Hempstead than at Harlow, because tree belts on the crests of the valley sides cut off views of the armadilloï¾­like urbanised hills. Redditch Town Centre is on a central ridge and the other urban areas are located in valley bottoms separated by wooded ridges. Most of the housing areas have a pleasant rural character which is emphasised by the backdrop of trees. Redditch has no extensive views of housing carpeting the land into the far distance. In Livingston the town centre and town park face each other across a valley, which is good, but the ridge lines have not been secured with planting.