Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
No Thumbnail Available
Publication

Urban green space for health and well-being: developing an 'affordances' framework for planning and design

2017-06-19, Lennon, Mick, Douglas, Owen, Scott, Mark J.

A vast literature exploring environmental influences on human health and well-being has provided renewed interest in connecting planning for the built environment with health initiatives. In response, planners and urban designers have been tasked with translating this knowledge into spatial planning and design schemes. This paper responds to an identified need for a conceptually-informed framework for green space planning and design for health and well-being that moves beyond attribute-descriptive studies. The notion of an 'affordances star' is proposed as a means to maximise the functionality and inclusivity of green space for health and well-being.

No Thumbnail Available
Publication

Centralising health in national spatial planning frameworks: insights from Ireland

2019-02-05, Scott, Mark J., Lennon, Mick, Douglas, Owen

This article examines attempts to embed health within national spatial planning, drawing on a case study of Ireland. We chart how national planning frameworks have shifted from a focus on spatial coordination of health-care provision towards a Health-in-All-Policies approach to centralise healthy places within Ireland’s recent National Planning Framework.

No Thumbnail Available
Publication

Responsive environments: An outline of a method for determining context sensitive planning interventions to enhance health and wellbeing

2019-01, Lennon, Mick, Douglas, Owen, Scott, Mark J.

Much thinking in planning for health and wellbeing is guided by a focus on the fair distribution of ‘goods’ such as proximity to accessible green space or the provision of facilities like outdoor gym equipment, cycleways and playgrounds. Less attention is focused on the aspirations which people seek these ‘goods’ to help realise. Hence, this paper presents and discusses an exploratory approach aimed at helping planning support user desires. It does so by advancing a method informed through the integration of the ‘Capability Approach’ and ‘Affordances Theory’. The paper first identifies and summarises deficiencies in the prevailing approach to planning for health and wellbeing. The primary elements of the Capability Approach and Affordances Theory are then outlined and discussed as correctives to these deficiencies. How these inform the development of a method for planning more responsive environments is outlined and a description of this method is provided. The advantages of this method are subsequently illustrated through a review of its application to three exploratory case studies. The paper closes with some summary conclusions on the benefit of this approach in the context of the critique provided at the beginning of the paper, with specific reference to how it may complement rather than challenge the prevailing approach to planning for health and wellbeing.

No Thumbnail Available
Publication

Green space benefits for health and well-being: A life-course approach for urban planning, design and management

2017-06, Douglas, Owen, Lennon, Mick, Scott, Mark J.

In recognition that the coming century will see a substantial majority of the world's population living in urban areas, the World Health Organisation and the United Nations have developed policy frameworks and guidance which promote the increased provision of urban green space for population health. However, these undertakings do not provide specific guidance for urban policy in terms of the particular design attributes required to tackle lifestyle illnesses and to promote well-being in urban populations. Furthermore, green spaces have generally been treated as a homogenous environment type. In order to address these weaknesses, this paper collates and reviews the evidence linking health, well-being and green space using a lifecourse approach. The literature generally endorses the view that urban green spaces, as part of the wider environmental context, promote health and well-being across the life course. Based on the evidence, cohort-specific and cross-cutting design interventions are identified and a general integrated green space framework for health and well-being is proposed. This analytical lens facilitates distillation of a vast quantum of research and the formulation of specific planning and design guidance for the provision of more inclusive green spaces that respond to the varying needs of people across all life-course stages.

No Thumbnail Available
Publication

Eco-Health: Ecosystem Benefits of Greenspace for Health

2020-07, Scott, Mark J., Lennon, Mick, Douglas, Owen, Bullock, Craig

The Eco-Health project explores the health benefits of ecosystems services as a means to supply evidence and tools for developing health promoting environments or ‘healthy places’.

No Thumbnail Available
Publication

Framework development for ‘just transition’ in coal producing jurisdictions

2019-11, Harrahill, Kieran, Douglas, Owen

The rhetoric of the ‘just transition’ lies at the heart of energy and development policies internationally. In this context, it is crucial that communities dependent on fossil fuel extraction and production for employment do not become ‘victims’ of the decarbonisation process. This paper involves a theoretically and conceptually grounded comparative analysis of policy measures that have been introduced in three first world jurisdictions which have been dependent on coal for employment – North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany, Alberta in Canada and Victoria in Australia. In so doing, measures which have successfully ameliorated the socio-economic well-being of coal dependent communities are identified and a framework for successful just transition is proposed. Recognising, but notwithstanding, inherent power dynamics, the framework identifies an important role for government in assisting workers and communities in navigating the transition process and in supporting new and emerging low-carbon industries in the context of ‘strong’ sustainable development.

No Thumbnail Available
Publication

Mainstreaming Green Infrastructure as a Health-Promoting Asset

2019-05, Scott, Mark J., Lennon, Mick, Douglas, Owen

Drawing on recent policy and practice in Ireland, particularly as promoted by the National Planning Framework, Mark Scott, Mick Lennon and Owen Douglas look at green infrastructure’s potential as a health-promoting framework.