VIRTUAL: Livable Cities – New York

Abstract

Cities are currently facing increasing health inequalities. In the Global North, life expectancy at birth can differ by up to 10 years between urban neighbourhoods. These widening health disparities are due to a range of factors, including the wider determinants of health (Marmot, 2010).
There is a growing recognition that urban planning plays a critical role in addressing these health inequalities (PHE, 2017). The configuration of the built environment has an impact on key drivers of health, including housing quality, the natural environment such as green and blue spaces and air quality, as well as influencing lifestyle factors such as active travel and healthy food choices (de Leeuw and Simos, 2017). While there is considerable evidence to support the links between urban planning and health outcomes, there is less evidence of what works in different urban and scalar contexts, particularly in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic and its implications for urban planning. Against this backdrop, the paper aims to fill this gap by drawing together the most up-to-date evidence on creating healthy cities in the UK. The research draws on a systematic scoping review (undertaken in 2021) involving some 70 studies that identify built environment interventions related to health and wellbeing, together with evidence submitted by key relevant organisations to the UK’s Commission on Creating Healthy Cities. These findings are supplemented by a series of focus groups with leading UK urban stakeholders in the built environment, at both local and national levels. Together, they highlight the essential interventions that urban planners should target, to address health inequalities in cities.