Built and natural environment planning principles for promoting health
An umbrella review
Project details
Full project title: Built and natural environment planning principles for promoting health: An umbrella review
Duration: 2017-2018
Project lead for CPHWB: Dr Paul Pilkington (now Public Health Wales)
Other UWE Bristol researcher: Dr Emma Bird
Funder: Public Health England (now Office for Health Improvement and Disparities)
Project summary
Aim: Our umbrella review aimed to assess relationships between the built and natural environment and health, concentrating on five predefined topic areas: neighbourhood design, housing, food environment, natural and sustainable environment, and transport.
Background: The built and natural environment and health are inextricably linked. However, there is considerable debate surrounding the strength and quality of the evidence base underpinning principles of good practice for built and natural environment design in promoting health.
Methodology: A structured search was conducted for quantitative systematic reviews and stakeholder documents published between 2005 and 2017. Seven databases and the websites of 15 relevant and respected stakeholder organisations known to publish review-level documentation were searched. Searches were limited to English-language publications and duplicate references were removed. Evidence quality and strength was appraised using validated techniques. Findings were used to develop a diagram for each topic area, illustrating relationships between built and natural environment planning principles and health-related outcomes.
Results: A total of 178 systematic reviews and review-level documents were eligible for inclusion. The quality of evidence was mixed, making it difficult to draw clear causal links. Fourteen actionable planning principles associated with positive health-related outcomes were identified across the five topic areas. For example, for the neighbourhood design category, neighbourhoods that enhanced walkability, were complete and compact in design, and those which enhanced connectivity through safe and efficient infrastructure were associated with improvements in health-related outcomes including physical activity, social engagement, mental health, perceptions of crime, and road traffic collisions. Evidence for the effectiveness of planning principles on reducing health inequalities was sparse and inconclusive.
Conclusions: Findings provide an up-to-date overview of relationships between the built and natural environment and health and present logical, evidence-based messages to aid communication between public health and planning professionals.
Project contact
For further information about the project, please contact Dr Emma Bird (emma.bird@uwe.ac.uk).