Health and the built environment: Expert seminar report for public health England

Burgess, Sarah; Grant, Marcus; Scally, Gabriel

Abstract

The connection between health and the built environment is not new. The sanitary revolution of the 19th century was largely based on tackling problems in the urban environment. The connection between health and issues such as housing, transport, air pollution and leisure provision is as important in relation to non-communicable disease today as it was to the infectious diseases of the past. The projection that 86% of the UK’s population will be urbanised by 2050 adds to the importance of the agenda for towns and cities.

With a new public health system coming into being in England and, in particular, the move of public health responsibilities to local authorities, there exists a real opportunity to make further progress on tackling some of the social determinants of health associated with urban environments.

At the invitation of Public Health England, the WHO Collaborating Centre for Healthy Urban Environments arranged a small expert seminar on health and the built environment in Bristol on the morning of 14 March 2013.

The goals of the seminar were to:
a) review the current situation in respect of health and the built environment;
b) to develop a broad set of short and medium-term strategic actions;
c) to strengthen understanding of the potential for public health interests to influence the built environment in England; and
d) to establish the ground work for the PHE programme on Healthy Places.

This report is a record of the activities and discussions at the seminar.

• Report Type: Project Report
• Publication Date: Mar 14, 2013
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 7, 2019
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: healthy urban planning, public health, built environment, urban planning
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/933729