Professional/ShortCourse Healthy Cities

Content

• The nature of settlements, providing the local human habitat, and the relationship to health and well-being: the settlement health map;
• The conceptualization of the urban environment in terms of global and local environmental sustainability;
• The relationship between health and planning/design: obesity, physical activity and active travel; mental well-being, social networks and neighbourhoods;
• Health equity, social inclusion/exclusion and strategic land use and transport policy;
• The operation of the spatial planning system in the UK, with a special emphasis on inter agency collaboration;
• The assessment of plans and projects through sustainability appraisal and health impact assessment, with an introduction to the HIA process;
• Different HIA tools, including the Spectrum approach to assessment: in theory and in practice;
• Learning to assess the impact of a development on health and well-being.

Learning and Teaching

The module is delivered by way of six study days of face-to-face teaching. These sessions include a range of formats including lectures, tutorials, exercises, site visits and workshops. Materials, including lecture recordings, will be available in virtual learning environments (VLEs).

Assessment

The module is assessed by a single component of assessment, taking the form of a health impact assessment of a proposed development project. The output for this assessment will be a report, which will critique the proposed development and make recommendations for planning permission, including suggested changes. A justification of the recommendation will form part of the report, drawing on academic literature and research as well as the site analysis and policy context. The analysis will identify associations and causal factors and discuss how the proposed development will impact on this selected health outcome (positively and/or negatively) and make recommendations for improvement.