Design control through the planning application process is not well understood and is not practised consistently. Similarly, wider urban design decisions and policies within town planning locally, ranging from development briefs to development plan policies on urban design, are made in a varied manner, often without reference to urban design principles. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) (2012) presents an opportunity to provide coherent guidance on urban design principles that should be applied locally. The NPPF, and reactions to its potential to address urban design issues, are examined, partly through primary data from urban design experts and community organisations. Literature relating to planning governance and urban design policy making is also considered in terms of the potential place of the NPPF in relation to urban design matters. A consensus emerged that certain urban design principles and tools should be included in the NPPF, or as a supplement to it, with a degree of prescription but without providing detail more appropriately covered at the local level. Although the NPPF reiterates some key points from previous guidance on urban design, and is prescriptive with a requirement for local design review panels, the lack of reference to some well recognised urban design principles and tools indicates a supplement may be needed to strengthen the urban design message in the NPPF as a key national policy document. The tension between shifting power to local levels and simultaneously producing useful national policy is likely to a problem facing many governments worldwide. URBAN DESIGN International (2012) 17, 144-155. doi:10.1057/udi.2012.3; published online 28 March 2012
