Highway engineers and architects have come under fire in a report by MPs into the pedestrian-friendliness of Britain's urban areas.
The select committee on the environment, transport and rural affairs says road engineers give too much priority to cars and lorries and pay too little attention to whether a scheme looks attractive.

Architects are damned for paying too little attention to other members of the team.

It cites as evidence for this claim a project in Coin Street in Southwark, south London, where "architects had produced an inadequate scheme because they had not consulted engineers".

Engineers are criticised for relying on technical guidance that has little to say about good design.

The report, Walking in Towns and Cities, says: "Some of the technical guidance … has tended to encourage schemes hostile to pedestrians, including the installation of guard railings and staggered crossings."

The report calls for the proposed review of planning gain to consider how developers could encourage more people to walk and recommends that local transport plans contain pedestrian networks.

The report suggests a co-ordinated approach to street design is needed between highway engineers, parking specialists, planners, architects and landscape architects.