Public Health Spatial Planning in Practice: An author Q&A

In September 2022 Michael Chao-Jung Chang, Liz Green and Carl Petrokofsky published their book, Public Health Spatial Planning in Practice: Improving health and wellbeing.

We spoke to one of the authors — our trustee Michael — about the book, why it is needed and what the big messages are for those working at the intersection of health and spatial planning.

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What inspired you to write this book?

The other authors and I have collaborated in various ways in the past decade in our respective roles and workplaces, all working to reunite health with planning across the UK nations.

We are two public health professionals and a town planner who don’t have any formal qualifications in each other’s disciplines. But we have all accumulated valuable practical knowledge about the planning system through a process of hands-on research, engagement with local authorities and key sectors, and policy development.

As a result of these collaborations, various guidance and reports have been published over the years, so a wealth of information existed but in disparate places and different formats.

In early 2019 we agreed that it was about time that we undertake the ultimate collaboration to write a book that is practical and accessible, based on learning from practice on the ground.

We could see a real need to support professionals by getting research and knowledge into practice. It was really both a labour of expressing our interest in this topic area and sensing some urgency for something like the book to fill a gap.

Who should read this book?

While the title of this points at two disciplines — spatial planning and public health — our intended audience is actually much broader.

The book is for anyone with a professional interest in taking action to improve people’s health through the planning system.

This is because you don’t need to be a planner to work in and with spatial planning.

A diverse range of people use the planning system, from technocrats and lawyers to your next door neighbour who’s thinking about feeding back on a masterplan consultation, to businesses looking to expand by finding development sites or taking over a shop on your local high street.

Likewise, you don’t need to be a public health or medical professional to have a desire to improve your family’s quality of life, or to recognise when something may or may not be good for your health.

The book is aimed at those who want to understand the systems and processes better, to be able to make the best use of a range of powers and levers to effect positive change to people’s lives and the environment.

Can you summarise the links the book highlights between spatial planning and people’s health and wellbeing?

In short, people’s physical and mental health and wellbeing is intrinsically linked to how they use and experience the environment. Conversely the environment affects and changes people’s behaviour for better or worse.

For example if you lived in a high rise apartment block next to a major road, the way you carry out your everyday activities — opening a window, deciding where your children can play or how you’ll get to work — would be different from how you carry our those same activities in a detached home next to a large park.

Spatial planning is a powerful lever because it shapes and evolves changes in the environment and society’s relationship with this environment, and has a range of effects on individuals and communities.

Spatial planning is not the only determinant of people’s health but it is certainly part of the bigger picture, and therefore deserves attention.

With changes promised to national planning policy, what are the key issues you think it should focus on in relation to health and wellbeing?

The book acknowledges the role national policies can play in sending the right signals to all users of the planning system.

For example, national policy can signal planning’s commitment to support high quality environments, and that it will act in the best interest of the environment and people without compromising livelihoods.

National policy can also send a clear signal that it will not accept developments that will result in outcomes that benefit the few, not the many.

The current National Planning Policy Framework for England is comparably stronger and more explicit about health than I have seen in earlier national policies. But it is a fine balancing act and we do often see economic viability trump other interests in planning decisions. There is always room for improvement, refinement and clarifications as we learn from our mistakes and good practices.

The critical ingredients for any national policy are to be explicit about the purpose of the planning system in delivering health outcomes and in enabling — not undermining — local actors who want to go above and beyond the minimum.

We hope these principles are also transferable to other planning jurisdictions around the UK nations and internationally. Recognition continues to grow around the importance of clearly articulating in policy actions to address population health and wellbeing through the planning system.

What could planning practitioners do within existing legislation to ensure that spatial planning has positive impacts on people’s health and wellbeing?

Practitioners work within a larger legislative environment than just planning legislation.

For example local governments have a range of powers in relation to housing, transport, environmental health, public health, social value etc. And planners are pretty good at identifying where opportunities and levers are to deliver positive change. You only have to look at some good examples of regeneration projects to see this.

Let’s first understand what local health and wellbeing needs are, then review what powers and levers exist in order to determine how and when is best to utilise them.

It shouldn’t be rocket science or require being a law scholar to take action if everyone commits to working in the common public interest.

Is there one lasting message you would like people to take away from the book?

Keep an open and pragmatic mindset and think about the lasting effect your day to day actions will have on people’s health and wellbeing.

People’s lives are literally in your hands so use your planning and public health powers responsibly.

Public Health Spatial Planning in Practice in published by Policy Press.