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Camden

2022 Healthy Streets Scorecard results

Camden is the third highest scoring London borough. It scores particularly well on the proportion of streets with protected cycle tracks (8%) and the proportion of schools with School Streets (28%). The new cycle route on Grays Inn Road (between Harrison Street and High Holborn) creates about just over a kilometre of protected cycle track on both sides of a busy main road. Camden also scores well as on the introduction of 20 mph speed limits and controlled parking zones. It has the 7th highest cycling rate in London (7% of adults cycle five times per week), low car ownership, a high proportion of trips made by ‘sustainable mode share’ (public transport, walking or wheeling) and it has the lowest proportion of diesel cars of any borough at 17%. 

Camden is 14th out of 33 London councils for the proportion of streets in Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (20%, up from 12% in 2020). Progress has been made over the last two years and the efforts of councillors and officers are recognised. There is still scope for improvement to reach levels of other inner London boroughs, for example, borough-lead Hackney on 70% and neighbouring Islington on 44%.

Camden could also make more use of the STARS programme to complement its School Streets and other healthy streets plans to enable greater mode shift away from cars for the journey to school. Camden also scores relatively low on its walking rate (just 41% of adults walking five times per week) and on its walking and cycling casualty rates (12th place for both). 

We were unable to update Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) data this year however Camden Council told us they have revised some CPZs. Camden Council and local campaigners state that all of Camden is covered by CPZs. Campaigners highlight only one area not included; the Kings Cross Central development (where the roads are not adopted by Camden and no on-street parking is permitted). Improvements will be reflected in next year’s scores alongside a new London-wide CPZ map created by the Scorecard coalition.

Looking at new data published this year to reflect population density, Camden scores better than expected, when taking account its density. When we account for density Camden would expect an overall score of 5.3, when it actually scores 6.7.

"Camden Cycling Campaign believe that the annual publication of the Scorecard is a valuable exercise in tracking progress towards Healthy Streets and we appreciate the amount of effort that goes into it. We are pleased with Camden's ranking and the substantial progress through the year but recognise that more needs to be done to prioritise active travel in our borough, specifically with the continuation of the LTN programme, more School Streets and additional protected cycle tracks on main roads. We will be working with Adam Harrison and council officers to ensure active travel and the climate emergency are given the highest priority."

The Healthy Streets Scorecard combine scores for nine indicators to create an overall Healthy Streets score for each borough. See the graph below for 2022 results (includes 2019 – 2021 results for comparison). For more detail visit the London-wide overview of the 2022 results. You can also:

Scorecard (factored score) chart explained

In the chart above, each borough has been given a factored score. Factor scores are composite variables which provide information about a borough’s placement on a scale. Factor scores are given by F=XB, where X is the indicator normalised score for a borough and B is the factor score coefficient (or weight). Each indicator is weighted as 1, or 0.5 if there are two parts to one indicator, for example Modeshare has a weighting of 1, Active travel – walking has a weighting of 0.5 and Active travel – cycling has a weighting of 0.5. The borough’s total factored score is the sum of all indicator factored scores which is then factored to 10 (multiplied by the number of indicators/10) to give a value on the scale between zero and 10. We can then compare boroughs against each other on the scale.

London Low Traffic Neighbourhoods map

See your borough’s LTNs – and all LTNs in London in the London LTN map

For results analysis visit Low Traffic Neighbourhoods indicator results

Instructions for map (below)
To navigate the key, click the top left hand corner.
To open in a new window, click the top right hand corner.
Zoom in and out using the + and – buttons.