Grand opening of New Road combined with 200th Anniversary Theatre Royal celebration

22nd July 2007

By David Sewell

On 27th June 2007 New Road was officially opened with a day of celebration, music and dance.

PTRC and Urban Initiatives were delighted to make the 2008 Award for Urban Transport Design to Brighton and Hove City Council for New Road Brighton. To realise the Council's objectives, innovative design was required to accommodate the differing needs of users within a vitally important urban environment. For this reason the Council sought a design team of the highest order to work with local people in designing a world-class scheme. Speakers from Gehl Architects and Martin Stockley Associates, which advised on the scheme, will join speakers from the City Council in setting out the process and ideas to create a street which has now become Brighton's "fourth most popular destination".

The scheme itself is perhaps best described by Ben Hamilton-Baillie, one of the UK's leading urban design consultants:

"New Road Brighton represents the best example to date of a new generation of urban streets in the UK. Drawing on best practice from mainland Europe, Brighton and Hove City Council has succeeded in delivering a bold, imaginative and inspirational piece of public space that succeeds in creating a new balance between civic activities and the need for access of all kinds. It will serve as a model for other local authorities across the country seeking to reconcile the many competing and conflicting demands of modern streetscapes, building on social protocols and civility rather than reliance on segregation and regulation".