Place-making in support of preventative public health: Lessons arising from NHS England’s Healthy New Towns project

Abstract

There is robust evidence that the places where people live have a profound influence on whether or not they are able to live healthy lives. This link between quality of place and well-being is now recognised by the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) and is viewed as a key progenitor of pernicious health inequalities. Increasingly, it is also being recognised and reflected in UK national planning policy. Planning policy is weak, however, with few mandatory quality standards, and many of the new homes and places being built in the UK are of a poor quality. Unless there is an urgent effort to strengthen and co-ordinate national policy regarding public health, planning and housing, it is highly likely that the design and management of the built environment will continue to increase the already large health inequalities between rich and poor. In support of thinking anew about place-making as preventative public health, this paper reports insights and lessons arising from NHS England’s Healthy New Towns project.