How to unlock the future of healthy, happy homes and neighbourhoods: insights from the Quality of Life Symposium

The future of healthy, happy homes and neighbourhoods is a topic that’s been bubbling beneath the surface of our industry for quite some time. It’s a concept that’s more than just a trend. It’s a fundamental shift in how we think about housing and its impact on people’s lives. 

It encompasses how we understand the impacts of the decisions that we’re making now on future generations; how we shift the power dynamics of development when they’re inherently unbalanced; whether planners actually enjoy the process of participation; and whether developers should take the hippocratic oath to do no harm.

These are just some of the topics that emerged at the inaugural Quality of Life Symposium. The event brought together experts and thought leaders from various fields to explore the central question: How can we enhance the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities through innovative approaches to housing and development? 

A ‘fishbowl’ of ideas

The heart of the event was an interactive ‘fishbowl discussion’ chaired by Jonny Anstead, Founding Director at TOWN and Chair of Trustees for the Quality of Life Foundation. Six panellists were given the opportunity to answer the central question before volunteers from the audience took their own place as panellists and joined the conversation. . Here are just some of the reflections from the event:

“Let’s reimagine infrastructure”  Sophie White, Aviva

Sophie challenged us to shift away from purely aesthetic “for sale” models towards a holistic consideration of community infrastructure. She urged us to think beyond land value and instead focus on the vital infrastructure required for community wellbeing, and emphasised  the importance of public funding in achieving these goals.

“We need to go beyond real estate” Michael Blake, Savills Earth

Michael emphasised the importance of viewing housing through the lens of health and wellbeing. He urged the industry to measure success not just in terms of profits but also in social impact and value creation. Michael stressed the need for developers to engage with communities throughout the entire development process and to involve young people to foster a sense of belonging and cohesion.

“We must stop building for people and instead build with people.”  Dr. Alice Mpofu-Coles, University of Reading

Alice advocated for a shift in power dynamics in development processes, arguing that we must find ways to empower communities. She highlighted the importance of ‘co-develop,’ ‘co-produce,’ and ‘co-construct’ approaches to ensure that communities have a say in the development happening around them. She stressed the necessity of creating accessible spaces for everyone, promoting empathy, and addressing the diverse needs of residents.

“Collaboration is key” Sarah Allan, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Sarah pointed to the need for a collaborative approach to address the complex challenges in urban planning. She called for a more holistic examination of policies, emphasising that an integrated approach and collaboration across the industry is essential to create places that everyone desires to live in.

“The industry is already changing” Martyn Evans, LandsecU+I

Martyn challenged the assumption that developers do not consider health and wellbeing, arguing that they would be foolish not to. He highlighted the changing attitudes in the industry, emphasising the importance of affordable living, diversity, and creating inclusive communities. Martyn also argued that there’s a commercial layer to the need to care about how people feel. As he put it: ‘happy people make good places and good places are valuable, and valuable is good news for developers.’

“We need a legislative framework” Rebekah Paczek, Earls Court Development Company

Rebekah discussed the value of healthy homes and communities in attracting residents. But she argued that this is not something that developers across the board understand. Rebekah called for a legislative framework that would help the ‘tail end’ of the industry to catch up with this way of thinking and way of working.

“Community engagement is a must” Joanne Lancaster, Retired Local Authority CEO

Joanne stressed the importance of engaging communities in the planning process. She highlighted the complexity of planning and called for a framework to help ensure that people’s voices really are heard. Joanne also highlighted the need for the consequences of development decisions to be thoroughly understood and meet both current and future needs.

“We must truly embrace inclusive approaches” Dinah Bornat, ZDC Architects

Dinah discussed inclusive approaches in community engagement, including a cross-generational panel at Earls Court. She emphasised the importance of trust, co-design, and co-creation and encouraged planners to really start enjoying the participation process.

“Think about more than just the homes” Camilla Siggaard Anderson, Hassell

Camilla brought a perspective from Scandinavia and highlighted the importance of considering people’s needs in design, focusing on safety, lighting, and enjoyment. She highlighted that we need to look outside of the home: neighbourhoods must meet people’s basic needs, not just provide aesthetically pleasing homes.

“Should developers take the hippocratic oath?” Clare Delmar, Listen to Locals

Clare proposed integrating healthcare principles into the development process, with a focus on prevention, longevity, and health literacy. She emphasised the role of developers in promoting community wellbeing and asked the question ‘should developers sign a hippocratic oath, to commit them to doing no harm?’

“Create healthy places to create a healthy economy” Julia Thrift, TCPA

Julia explained that other countries are putting health and wellbeing right at the beginning of their national planning policy. She highlighted the connection between healthy places and healthy economies, arguing that ‘we have to create healthy places for a healthy economy’. She described how local authorities could be putting the data they already have on the health of populations to much better use. The reason they don’t already is because it’s not prioritised in national planning policy.

“We must take a holistic approach to health” Andrew van Doorn, HACT

Andrew stressed that health is not solely the responsibility of the NHS and called for a holistic approach to health creation. He also shifted the conversation to focus on wellbeing, asking ‘what is our public policy goal for wellbeing?’ arguing that England has fallen behind other nations in this arena.

“We need to change the project briefing process” Sem Lee, OURI Labs

Sem proposed a change in the project briefing process to enable holistic community engagement and trust-building. They emphasised the importance of enabling communities to participate in the research process.

“Participatory engagement is essential” Jerry Tate, Tate+Co Architects

Jerry discussed the structures necessary for participatory community engagement, emphasising the need for a deeper understanding of ‘co-creation.’ He called for the incorporation of social value and wellbeing into development proposals.

“It’s time to incentivise community involvement” Harriet Saddington, Harriet Saddington Ltd 

Harriet highlighted the need to incentivise community involvement among contractors. She questioned how the construction process affects people and their future participation.

“What’s the role for private landlords?” Charlie Lemmer, International WELL Building Institute

Charlie highlighted the often-forgotten role of landlords and underscored the importance of addressing housing-related challenges comprehensively.

The big takeaway

If participants’ comments on LinkedIn are anything to go by, the inaugural Quality of Life Symposium was a resounding success.

The symposium challenged existing norms and called for a collaborative, community-centric approach to development and regeneration. It emphasised the importance of co-creation, inclusivity, and holistic wellbeing in creating thriving communities for all.

Above all, the symposium illuminated a profound appetite within the sector for driving a transformation that puts health and wellbeing at the centre of housing. It left us full of optimism that, through collective effort, we can indeed make it happen.