England’s new towns must be walkable and green, say campaigners

York Minster and the city wall. There is a proposal to extend the city to its ring road, helping to ease the worst housing shortage in the north. Photograph: Joe Daniel Price/Getty Images

Labour should build 12 new towns in England that are not car-dependent or built on flood plains, a former government adviser has said in a report.

A detailed plan for a dozen new towns, proposed by thinktanks Britain Remade and Create Streets, would mean 550,000 well-designed and appropriately located homes. The new homes would boost the economy by £13-28bn annually by improving access to high-paying jobs in well-connected cities, according to the report.