Good physical and mental health and wellbeing is important to everyone. Recently health policy has aimed to address the causes of poor health rather than just the symptoms. Planning has a critical role to play in promoting good health from the outset, although traditionally planners and health practitioners have not fully understood the linkages between planning and health.
LUC’s guidance document aimed to provide a format which was understood by both planners and health practitioners. It focused on five major public health issues (mental health, obesity and cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, excess summer and winter mortality and injuries) and documented the evidence linking spatial planning to these issues.
A robust evidence base is necessary to inform the development of good policy. A major component of this project was to provide a strong evidence base demonstrating the links between spatial planning and health. A health specialist from the Centre for Research into Environment and Health provided evidence linking the five chosen public health issues to spatial planning. For example, mental health can be affected positively and negatively by many factors, however housing design and density, housing quality and fear of crime are particularly important and can be influenced by the planning process.
The evidence also demonstrated that obesity and cardiovascular disease can be reduced through moderate physical exercise. Spatial planning can encourage physical activity by promoting walking and cycling through the provision of well-designed paths and cycleways and by improving accessibility to open and green spaces and sports facilities. The evidence base was used to formulate good practice health policies applicable to a range of local development documents.
The final output included case studies and evidence highlighting how good and bad planning can affect health outcomes, good practice health policy wording for Local Development Documents and checklists which could be used by planners and health practitioners when reviewing planning applications or considering the design of new developments.
This project was innovative, progressive, exciting and attempted to bridge the gap between two disciplines, health and planning, which have tended to develop in isolation. The output was a huge leap in the right direction, and showcases LUC’s multidisciplinary service.
