This report covers a range of topics including the impact of cars and bicycles on towns and cities. It considers how more movement makes us richer and high streets more successful. Furthermore more movement makes us happier and healthier. Also more movement makes us more free and can make more homes. There are a number of factors to consider. However...
This report supported by the Mayor of London was produced to build on the existing methods to value the health benefits of exercise in green space by extending them to cover the benefits of avoiding costs of social care. Through primary data from a survey, one to one interviews and desktop research, authors found that a broad range of additional...
This report by Kellogg College, University of Oxford and the Global Centre on Healthcare and Urbanisation investigates the links between urban matters and health and wellbeing. Through the use of secondary data, the commission’s overarching recommendation were that ‘health creation’ – interventions that positively improve health and wellbeing – should be the determining factor for built environment, planning and placemaking...
This guide is designed to help practitioners improve cities and streets for walking. It sets out seven steps to a walking city which will lead to healthier, more economically successful, greener and stronger communities. The seven steps are based on examples of best practice and contain a range of suggested policies and programmes. They include:1. Make walking a priority2. Plan...
This report highlights the significant social, economic, environmental and political benefits of walking. It investigates the role of walking in developing more liveable, sustainable, healthy, safe and attractive cities. It outlines 50 drivers of change covering social, technological, economic, environment and political domains, 50 benefits that should be achievable and demonstrable by quantitative and qualitative measurements, 40 actions and policies...
This new guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) covers how to improve the physical environment to encourage and support physical activity. The aim is to increase the general population’s physical activity levels. The recommendations in this guideance should be read alongside NICE's guideline on physical activity: walking and cycling. This guidance includes recommendations on: • active...
Active Design is an innovative set of design guidelines to get more people moving through suitable design and layout. Decisions made through the planning system often provide the opportunity to create the right environment to help people get more active, more often. Active Design provides practical guidance and principles that can be used in the day to day work of...
This publication offers guiding principles to help countries transform urban settings and public spaces to promote physically active lifestyles. It explores options and strategies to boost physical activity in cities and advocates urban planning as a means to prevent physical inactivity. The report discusses options for improving the physical infrastructure and spaces in cities and towns to transform the quality of...
The quality of the street environment effects us all - whether we are walking to school, waiting at a bus stop, cycling to work, shopping, or even driving through a city. How streets handle the various, complex and often conflicting needs of users has a profound impact on our daily lives and wellbeing. At the same time streets are often highly constrained physically....
The UK’s population grew by 5.8 per cent between 1998-2009, which gave a boost to annual comparison goods spending of approximately £10 billion. However, town centres have not reaped the benefits of this huge increase in retail expenditure. In the face of steep competition for diminishing public funds, the importance of better streets and public spaces needs to be better understood.