Poundbury is built on Duchy of Cornwall land, in accordance with the principles of architecture and urban planning as advocated by the 24th Duke of Cornwall when HRH The Prince of Wales, in his book ‘A Vision of Britain’.
Poundbury is an integrated rather than zoned development, consciously designed to challenge a number of the town planning trends and policies of the 20th century; isolated housing estates and shopping centres far from places of work and leisure, forcing ever greater reliance on the car.
There are four key principles in particular which have been pioneered at Poundbury:
- Architecture of place. Creating beauty and reflecting local character and identity.
- Integrated Affordable Housing. Integrated with and indistinguishable from private housing, offering a variety of options.
- A walkable community. Designed to be welcoming and useable for pedestrians and other road users in addition to the car.
- A mix of uses. Integrating homes with retail and other employment uses and public areas.
Currently home to some 5,000 people in a mix of private and affordable housing, Poundbury also provides employment for over 2,750 people working in more than 260 shops, cafés, offices and factories. A further 200 are employed in construction across the site and many more are self employed and occasionally work from home.
Begun in 1993, Poundbury is based on some of the timeless principles that have enabled many places around Britain to endure and thrive over the centuries. The result is an attractive and pleasing place in which people can live, work and relax. Affordable housing (being provided at 35%) and private housing share a public realm with the many businesses.
As Poundbury has developed, it has demonstrated there is a genuine alternative to the way in which we establish new high density communities in this country. Poundbury is approximately 88% built and is planned to grow to over 2,700 homes by completion in 2028.