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Where health meets planning – lessons from Wales
As the new government tries to reconcile how to grow the economy by accelerating investment in new housing with a commitment to public...
Jul 29, 20244 min read


Private finance, public infrastructure
Our new government has pledged to limit tax rises while at the same time promising to invest in our NHS, education and energy...
Jul 16, 20245 min read


Making London more swimmable
There’s an ad going round social media this week by the city of Oslo, presented with irony by a droll Norwegian who asks if Oslo is “even...
Jun 27, 20244 min read


CIL, health and health equity
Over the last year I’ve seen more and more reports of the tensions in local communities created by new housing development and the...
Jun 13, 20244 min read


Supermarkets and Healthy Placemaking
Earlier this month, Asda unveiled plans for a “transformational Mixed-Use Redevelopment of its ten-acre Park Royal site in North West...
May 29, 20243 min read


Vulnerable in the city
“Vulnerability” comes from the Latin word for wound – vulnis. It’s the state of being open to injury, or appearing as if you are. Feeling...
Apr 25, 20243 min read


Infrastructure First
Along with wet weather, April came in with a blast of Nimby v Yimby hot air. So far this month, we’ve learned that Keir Starmer has...
Apr 12, 20245 min read


Notes from a Blue Zone
I spent last week in Singapore which, along with many other accolades, has been designated the world’s sixth Blue Zone, and the world’s...
Mar 4, 20244 min read


Will 2024 be the Year of the Marmot City?
Happy new year – and what a year 2024 has started out to be, as global, national and local events unfold and impact us all in different...
Jan 17, 20244 min read


Improving Health through the Built Environment – panel discussion at the NHS ICS/ICB Congress
The GIANT Health event, now in its tenth year, took place earlier this week, and I was invited to convene a panel for the NHS ICS/ICB...
Dec 8, 20234 min read


Be part of a community-led approach to assessing health impact
I’m delighted to share this blog from Josh Artus at Centric Lab. What they’re doing in rethinking and redesigning Health Impact...
Nov 21, 20234 min read


Developers, health and place – connecting the dots
At a time when evidence is fast increasing on how the built environment impacts our individual and collective health, it is regrettable...
Nov 7, 20233 min read


Borrow some medical practice to build healthy homes and places
This past year has seen real progress in demonstrating how our built environment - the homes & places where we live – impacts our...
Oct 12, 20234 min read


We all deserve to live in a Blue Zone
A new docuseries dropped on Netflix last week called “Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones”. The series is conceived, produced, and...
Sep 7, 20233 min read


First, do no harm
Anyone involved in medicine and the provision of healthcare will recognise this phrase and its origins in Hippocrates – it embodies the...
Aug 9, 20232 min read


Homes, Places and the Peckham Experiment
Last year I interviewed Lord Nigel Crisp about housing and its impact on our individual and collective health, and how the scale of this...
Jul 16, 20233 min read


The coalitions are coming
Just when I thought it wasn’t possible, not one but two coalitions of Built Environment organisations have announced their arrival in the...
Jun 23, 20234 min read


When dots don’t connect
Earlier this year when Secretary of State for Levelling up Michael Gove suggested that a rethought approach to planning education could...
Jun 9, 20234 min read


Health services must be prioritised in communities undergoing regeneration
Some recent events in Kent illustrate a disconnect between planning for new housing development and providing essential health services...
Apr 6, 20234 min read


Health Street: Building Health Creation into High Street Renewal
As our understanding of the connections between place and health continues to grow in the post-Covid era, we’re beginning to see...
Feb 27, 20234 min read
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