Ignoring the role of town planning in health perpetuates inequalities

The places where we live, work, and play—and how we access them—are fundamental determinants of health, with staggering differences in outcomes between people living in the UK’s most and least deprived areas. A woman born in Wokingham, for example, can expect to live 15 more healthy years than a woman born in Blackpool. A man born in Richmond upon Thames, meanwhile, can expect to live 17 more healthy years than if he’d been born in Belfast.1The reasons for these inequalities are many, but housing, the environment where we live, and access to transport are important factors that can affect our physical and mental health. If we always applied this knowledge to the planning processes for how and where our homes are built, and how we travel to and from them, it would allow everyone to live healthier lives.Our homes have an enormous impact on our physical health. As we saw…
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