Design codes for health and wellbeing
Our guidance, Design Codes for Health and Wellbeing, has been developed in partnership with Tibbalds, TCPA, TRUUD, and Henley Business School, with support from UDL. It provides practical advice for embedding health and wellbeing into the design coding process, ensuring that places support healthier lives for everyone.
Why design codes matter
Design codes set expectations for the design of buildings, spaces, and places. They help create high-quality developments by providing a structured framework that planning authorities, developers, and communities can use to shape future growth. By prioritising health and wellbeing within design codes, we can:
- Address local health priorities through better urban design
- Reduce health inequalities by improving access to green space, active travel, and healthy food
- Create certainty for developers and decision-makers, ensuring that health-focused placemaking becomes standard practice.
Who is this guidance for?
Design Codes for Health and Wellbeing is designed for planners, developers, local authorities, public health professionals, and community groups involved in shaping the built environment.
It sets out a policy framework and practical principles for incorporating health into design codes, complementing existing national guidance on placemaking.
By using this guidance, you can develop a vision for health-focused development and ensure that design codes actively support better health outcomes.
Endorsements
“This guidance will provide invaluable support for councils looking to embed health and wellbeing into their planning policies and processes. With growing recognition of the vital link between place and public health, this resource offers practical steps to help councils create healthier, more resilient communities. As councils work to tackle health inequalities and deliver sustainable development, design codes can be a useful tool in shaping places that support residents’ long-term wellbeing.” – Cllr David Fothergill, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board
“The Association of Directors of Public Health welcomes this guidance, which rightly positions public health teams as core contributors to the design coding process. Embedding health and wellbeing into planning decisions from the outset is essential to creating places that support healthier lives and reduce inequalities. This guidance provides much-needed clarity on how public health professionals can work alongside planners, developers, and communities to shape environments that enable people to thrive.” – Association of Directors of Public Health