A collaboration between the University of Bristol, the University of Bath and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has resulted in a new approach to valuing health in urban development decisions, potentially influencing billions of pounds of public investment.
Professor Sarah Ayres, from the University of Bristol’s School for Policy Studies, a lead investigator on the project, has been instrumental in adding public health considerations to the government’s newly released guidance for development decision-making.
The collaboration has created the Health Appraisal of Urban Systems (HAUS) model which is to be used for housing, community and local government interventions. For the first time, there are now methods to quantify and value the potential health impacts of urban interventions for specific populations.
Welcoming the updated guidance, Baroness Taylor of Stevenage, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at MHCLG, said:
“I welcome the updated MHCLG Appraisal Guide. By bringing robust tools to quantify the health impacts of urban design - from housing quality and community infrastructure to transport and access to green space - this guidance will help local partners deliver better outcomes for people while easing pressure on health services. It also showcases effective collaboration between government and academia.”
The economic modelling underpinning HAUS was developed collaboratively with economists Dr Eleanor Eaton and Dr Alistair Hunt and public health expert Dr Geoff Bates at the University of Bath and analysts at MHCLG. The team’s work enables planners and policymakers across the UK to understand how places shape people’s health and to assign tangible value to those impacts within business cases, covering considerations such as housing quality, transport connectivity, access to green space and community infrastructure.
The timing is significant as the government progresses its new towns programme and works towards its target of delivering 1.5 million new homes. The HAUS model has been developed as part of the wider ‘Tackling the Root causes Upstream of Unhealthy Urban Development’ (TRUUD) research programme. TRUUD is a six-year, £6.7 million research programme funded by the UK Prevention Research Partnership.
Stephen Aldridge, Chief Analyst at MHCLG, said:
“I am very pleased to recommend the use of this Guide as a means of helping to deliver better evidence-based policy making across the range of housing, community and local government interventions. The work done with TRUUD on the health impacts of urban interventions is pathbreaking and I am particularly pleased that the World Health Organisation has used it as a case study for its ‘Taking a Strategic Approach to Urban Health’ publication.”
Professor Ayres and Dr Bates highlighted the scale of the opportunity created by the new guidance, saying:
“Decision makers now have a tool that enables them to think about health outcomes in urban development decision making before it’s too late. This has the potential to influence billions of pounds of public investment on urban development and ultimately improve public health and wellbeing. Our collaboration with MHCLG is an excellent example of what can be achieved through committed and authentic co-production between government and the research community.”
Dr Eleanor Eaton and Dr Alistair Hunt, the economists who developed the HAUS model, said:
“We are delighted that the HAUS model has been endorsed in the MHCLG Appraisal Guide. Working closely with MHCLG and stakeholders at national and local levels has been a welcome opportunity, which has enabled us to develop and test a robust tool that helps decision-makers across the UK’s planning system understand, measure and value how places can shape people’s health.”