Healthy Urban Planning, Design and Development
See also Health Impact Assessment and Centre for HIA
The way we perceive and interact with the physical environment – built and natural – has a significant impact on individual and community wellbeing. Equally important are the consequences of spatial and land use planning decisions and how easy or difficult this makes it for people to access goods and services and engage with other people. This can have a profound influence on the health and wellbeing not only of individuals but also of the communities in which we all live. These effects can also disproportionately fall on those who are already socially, economically and environmentally disadvantaged or suffering from poor health and wellbeing. Therefore spatial changes to the physical environment can enhance health equity and reduce health inequalities.
Spatial planning in the UK and internationally came to the fore in the 19th Century as a result of concerns about the health and housing of industrial workers in urban areas. Healthy urban planning and design is an approach to planning that puts people - individuals, families and communities – and their health and wellbeing at the heart of the planning and regeneration process. The physical environment, which is shaped by planning decisions, affects health and wellbeing through enabling people’s ability to walk, cycle and enjoy the outdoors; by encouraging social interactions between neighbours and other local people; by providing good quality housing; and access to jobs, shops, services and public transport.
Healthy urban planning also puts special emphasis on health inequalities and inequity. These manifest physically within and between neighbourhoods and communities in terms of the level of physical dereliction, litter and graffiti; crime and antisocial behaviour; availability and accessibility of amenities; the connectedness of streets and open spaces; and the quality of community relationships (neighbourliness and community cohesion).
Healthy urban planning is part of the public and environmental health role of Primary Care Health Agencies and Local Authorities in the UK and internationally. It can help lead to a decrease in the need for medical treatment and demands on health and social care services across the life-course. It can also lead to a reduction in crime and anti-social behaviour and increased social capital and community cohesion.
The 12 themes and principles as well as relevant examples of each principle in action developed by Barton and Tsourou are shown below.
| Theme | Principle | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Healthy Lifestyles | Do planning policies and proposals encourage and promote healthy exercise/physical activity? | Appropriate density housing, nearby amenities, safe and walkable/cyclable neighbourhoods for children and adults |
| 2. Social cohesion | Do planning policies and proposals encourage and promote social cohesion i.e. integration between communities and active engagement of communities in neighbourhood activities? | Low to medium levels of traffic through home zones and traffic calming measures, safe crossing points, wide pavements/footpaths, well lit and looked after public spaces, human scale business/industrial developments |
| 3. Housing quality | Do planning policies and proposals encourage and promote housing quality | High quality design, high quality building materials, appropriate levels of internal room spacing, appropriate location/orientation e.g. to maximise natural light, mixed density developments, mixed tenure, mixed demography dwellings (single people, couples, families, older people) |
| 4. Access to employment and education opportunities | Do planning policies and proposals encourage and promote access to employment and education opportunities? | Range of accessible and well connected business/industrial premises and educational institutions. |
| 5. Accessibility | Do planning policies and proposals encourage and promote accessibility | Reliable and frequent public transport, accessible and available health/social care/other public services, availability and accessibility of commercial services e.g. banks, local shops, supermarket hairdresser, drycleaner, pharmacist, etc. |
| 6. Local low-input food production | Do planning policies and proposals encourage and promote local food production with low input of chemical fertiliser and pesticides? | Protection of high value agricultural land and allotments, support for composting, community gardening and growing vegetable patches in private gardens |
| 7. Safety | Do planning policies and proposals encourage and promote safety and feeling of safety in the community? | Residential and commercial design that incorporates passive surveillance through overlooking windows and encouragement of passing foot, cycle and public transport traffic, removal of graffiti, maintenance and cleaning of green and built open spaces, repair of vandalised street furniture, creating community spaces where adults and children of all ages can meet and chat. |
| 8. Equity | Do planning policies and proposals encourage and promote equity and the development of social capital? | Targeting deprives and environmentally poor areas for physical regeneration, ensuring high quality housing and business developments in these areas, improving street lighting, public transport and pedestrian connectivity in these areas, building in home zones and traffic calming measures. |
| 9. Air quality and aesthetics | Do planning policies and proposals encourage and promote good air quality, protection from excessive noise and an attractive environment for living and working? | Regulate and reduce air emissions and noise from motor vehicles, domestic sources and businesses. Use noise barriers and trees and shrubs as sinks for barriers to air pollution exposures |
| 10. Water and sanitation quality | Do planning policies and proposals encourage and promote improved water and sanitation quality? | Mains connection to drinking water and sewage systems, appropriate systems where mains connection are not feasible, reduce water usage in taps and appliances, incorporation of Surface water Urban Drainage Schemes (SUDS) |
| 11. Quality of land and mineral resources | Do planning policies and proposals encourage and promote the conservation and quality of land and mineral resources? | Protection, maintenance and enhancement of high quality agricultural land, green and blue spaces, high quality remediation of contaminated land, appropriate development of mines and mineral refining facilities away from human settlements as much as possible, minimise use of non renewable mineral resources and land uses and practices that can degrade soil quality. |
| 12. Climate Stability | Do planning policies and proposals encourage and promote climate stability (and reduce the potential impact of climate change)? | Design of energy efficient and well insulated homes that can cope with varying temperatures and rainfall to provide appropriate levels of thermal comfort for residents, use of sustainable building materials, use of energy efficient appliances, recycling of building waste, recycling and appropriate treatment of other waste, use of renewable energy sources and protection, maintenance and enhancement of urban and rural biodiversity. |