Healthy places
Developing long-term collaborative relationships between planning and public health in local areas.
Nearly 4 million homes in England pose an immediate threat to health and over 11.5 million people think that their local high streets negatively impact their health and wellbeing. Where we live, work, learn, and play shapes our health. Without stronger integration between planning and public health teams, we risk deepening these unequal health outcomes across communities.
Building back healthier communities
Healthy places embeds public health into planning at every level, supporting environments that are designed around community needs. The project, funded by The Health Foundation, developed long term collaborative relationships between planning and public health professionals in local areas, exploring the different mechanisms for embedding health into the planning process.
Our project advisory group, chaired by Darrell Gale (Director of Public Health for East Sussex County Council), was made up of representatives from:
The change we’ve inspired so far
Shaping national policy
Our project has played a central role in shaping future planning and public health policy. Through a series of online roundtables, bringing together Directors of Public Health and Directors of Place, we identified shared priorities and evidence gaps essential for advancing healthy place making. Building on these insights, we also contributed to the National Policy Planning Framework consultation and are guiding the development of future work programmes.
Strengthening planning and public health relationships
Through establishing the Planning and Health Collaborative Group, we created a trusted space for planners and public health teams to come together. The group quickly became a cornerstone of the project, enabling members to share evidence and align on key definitions to build a shared understanding of how place shapes health. Through discussions, the group has strengthened relationships across sectors and helped break down long standing silos.
In one session, Andrew Netherton, Head of Specialist Evidence and Advice for the Housing, Planning and Environments for Health Team at OHID, outlined key considerations for interpreting the National Planning Policy Framework.
To strengthen learning and collaboration across the system, we hosted an event for public health and planning professionals to share learning on the strategies and partnerships creating healthy places across the country. Chaired by Darrell Gale, the event highlighted both national progress and successes across local delivery.
This was an informative and inspiring event as a practitioner new to ‘Planning & Public Health’ practice. I look forward to sharing what I Iearnt with my colleagues and using the outputs that ADPH will be providing.
Attendee
Supporting practice
We produced practical resources that help planning and public health teams embed health into decision making. These tools translate complex evidence into actionable guidance, supporting partners to design both healthier environments and reduce unequal health outcomes across communities. These include our What Good Local Spatial Planning for Healthy Places Looks Like guide and Planning and Public Health Masterclass hosted in partnership with Prior + Partners and centred on real world case studies, supporting teams with the insights needed to influence policy and strengthen local practice.
With more than 150 downloads so far, our resources are already supporting partners’ work: