An urgent call for healthy urban planning
A range of health problems are linked with the design of our cities and towns, according to the Public Health Advisory
Committee (PHAC). The PHAC, which provides independent public health advice to the Minister of Health, released a report
today that highlights the urgency of designing urban areas in ways that promote – not impede – good health.
The report, Healthy Places, Healthy Lives: Urban environments and wellbeing, provides detailed evidence about the strong links between urban design and aspects of poor health that place a large
burden on our communities and health services.
Pauline Barnett, PHAC Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health and General Practice at Otago
University, said, “86% of New Zealanders now live in urban areas. But in these areas, people are walking less, there are
more cycle crashes on our roads, and urban air pollutants are contributing to the increasing burden of respiratory
illness.”
Healthy Places, Healthy Lives emphasises that all too often it is people from disadvantaged backgrounds or with limited ability to move around urban
areas – children, older people and people with disabilities – who suffer the greatest health impacts from poorly planned
urban environments. This only increases health inequalities and demand for health services. “With the growing burden of
health issues like chronic conditions and the permanence of urban infrastructure, we must design our cities and towns to
promote health,” Barnett explains.
“Amidst the sobering evidence of negative links between urban form and ill health, the report emphasises that there is
also hope,” notes Robin Kearns, PHAC member and Professor of Geography at the University of Auckland. “A growing body of
evidence identifies how we can design cities for better health outcomes and in ways that have ‘co-benefits’ for the
environment, society and business.”
Healthy Places, Healthy Lives examines this research and gives a number of examples from both New Zealand and overseas about things that are working
well. “New Zealand is doing some great work, but the country has a long way to go. If we make more widespread changes,
they will provide savings to the health system and create more cohesive communities,” Kearns adds. "There are many
opportunities for the health sector to work with local government, urban planners and central government agencies in
this endeavour."
Within our cities and towns, hospitals and health services form a major part of our urban infrastructure and they are
major employers. The report emphasises that the health sector can lead by example in the way it designs its own health
facilities, locating them on public transport routes or making them accessible for pedestrians and cyclists. The health
sector can also model healthy employment practices. Barnett explains, “If we are trying to prevent ill health through
more physical activity, why are we providing parking spaces as incentives to employees? Why can't employers also provide
walking shoes or secure bike facilities as options? There are a lot of things that the health sector could do to change
the way we live in our cities.”
Both public health and urban planning share origins in Victorian England over century ago when sanitary reforms were
introduced to improve living standards and reduce the spread of infectious diseases. Since then, the two disciplines
have largely parted ways. PHAC Chair Pauline Barnett said that “a re-integration of public health and urban planning is
required.”
Copies of Healthy Places, Healthy Lives are available on the PHAC’s website, http://www.phac.health.govt.nz
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