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New housing, no infrastructure
Following the government’s cabinet reshuffle earlier this month, the new Housing minister, Steve Read, issued a “call to arms” to “build...
Sep 27, 20255 min read


Building for Health on the Aylesbury Estate
The Aylesbury estate is in the London Borough of Southwark. It was built between 1963 and 1977, and is one of the largest public housing...
Sep 5, 20255 min read


Hot Town, Summer in the City
It’s been a hot summer across Europe and much of North America, and this has generated lots of discussion about the impact of heat on our...
Aug 30, 20256 min read


Civic Life, Public Health - why loos are essential to our cities
Last week the BBC reported from Bath that a lack of public toilets in the city has left elderly people in tears and pushed customers...
Aug 6, 20252 min read


Springfield Village – How to Build for Health
Always on the lookout for redevelopment projects that align housing and placemaking with improving health outcomes, I was intrigued to...
Jul 28, 20255 min read


Build for Health – our first workshop
On a beautiful summer evening last Tuesday, fifty-odd leaders and practitioners from the built environment, health provision, public...
Jul 14, 20254 min read


Tech, tools and developing healthy places
At a time of change and uncertainty in housing, planning and health policy, robust data gives us the anchor we need to understand what is...
Jun 20, 20256 min read


Time for a health upgrade to Section 106
Section 106 is not in a good place. Originating from the Town and Country Planning Act of 1990 it was designed as a mechanism to...
Jun 6, 20256 min read


What does inclusive growth look like? touring Barking & Dagenham with Darren Rodwell
The push for economic growth continues to dominate government policy across multiple agendas, including climate and housing, and local...
May 22, 202517 min read


What does an AI city look like?
I’m recently back from a few weeks in San Francisco and, as tour guide to a group of first-time visitor friends I duly showcased the...
May 13, 20256 min read


Building healthy places through community-led health coaching
Earlier this year, before its demise , NHS England published Neighbourhood Health Guidelines , which stated “there is an urgent need...
Apr 22, 20259 min read


Urban Healthonomics – back to the future of healthy, sustainable and prosperous cities
Martin Prince-Parrott, the author of recently published Urban Healthonomics, is a man on a mission. He’s also a walking contradiction....
Apr 9, 20256 min read


Embedding health into local planning – it’s all about the data
Last October, before the government’s autumn budget, I wrote a blog making a case that the UK is at an inflection point in housing and...
Mar 21, 20257 min read


Community-led campaigns are needed now more than ever
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has” ...
Mar 13, 20255 min read


Is there a doctor in the house?
Does objecting to a new housing development in your local community, on the basis that no provision is made for new or expanded GP...
Feb 19, 20255 min read


Healthy Happy Places – a collaborative initiative in the Northeast of England
There’s an area in the northeast of England where planners, health providers, arts organisations and local government are collaborating...
Feb 5, 20257 min read


Building an environment to age well in
With a new year comes a media spotlight on self-improvement, “healthy ageing” and “longevity” feature highly in both social and...
Jan 25, 20254 min read


Build for Health
Happy new year! Here’s hoping that sincere wishes for happiness and prosperity in 2025 are met with acknowledgment of some significant...
Jan 10, 20255 min read


Building Health Equity – the Role of the Property Sector in Improving Health
It wasn’t long ago that these words would look out of place in the same sentence. Why should property developers care about health, or...
Dec 17, 20243 min read


Infrastructure is more than bricks & mortar
On April 15, 2019 the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris was severely damaged in a devastating fire – and this week, five years on, its...
Dec 5, 20243 min read
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