LGA report: Empowering Healthy Places

This guide presents an overview of local government powers in relation to planning and public health. It sets out a holistic approach for thinking about how to create healthy neighbourhoods and a summary of the relevant powers and practices available to councils. This includes four case studies, exploring how councils are working to create healthy neighbourhoods in different ways. It seeks to build upon work such as the LGA and TCPA’s Developing Healthy Places from 2018 which sets out how councils can work with developers to deliver healthy places.

The intention is for the guide to empower councils to make use of the powers already available to them to shape and create healthy neighbourhoods and reduce health inequalities. This includes improving the conditions of existing neighbourhoods as well as when developing new places. In addition, it sets out recommendations for further powers and practices councils might need to further enable them to take the lead in shaping healthy places.

We worked with Prior + Partners to develop this guide for the Local Government Association.

This project was carried out by the Quality of Life Foundation, led by a team whose expertise continues today through Quality of Life Futures.