Quality of Life Foundation
This guide is tailored for those working in councils in England who shape and curate places, offering them the tools and knowledge to foster environments that enhance community health and wellbeing. It will also be valuable to public health professionals who wish to gain deeper insights into the planning process, and to understand at what points in the process they could meaningfully contribute.
Sustrans
The Sustrans Active Travel Toolbox provides guides, tools and case studies to help local authorities and their partners make the case for walking and cycling schemes including the economic case, housing growth and planning and health resources.
Zenodo
Managing takeaways near schools: a toolkit for local authorities (2024)
Takeaway management zones allow local authorities to stop new takeaways opening near schools. Designed in partnership with local authority staff, this toolkit provides four practical steps to support local authorities to successfully implement evidence-based takeaway management zones.
Transport for London
The planning for walking toolkit brings together a range of best practice tools that TfL uses and has developed over recent years to plan and design pedestrian related infrastructure improvements in London.
Healthy Streets is a way of designing and managing streets to support people’s health and wellbeing by making walking and cycling easier, safer and more interesting. It can help reduce air pollution, increase physical activity, and make places greener. Although created for London, the Healthy Streets approach can be used anywhere.
Public Health England
How can we make places around schools better for health? This report about School Superzones explains what can be done, based on a pilot programme in London.
How can we create healthier places based on evidence of what really works? This authoritative review of the evidence, by Public Health England, sets it out in an easy-to-use guide. Helpful diagrams summarise the strenghth of evidence in terms of:
- neighbourhood design
- housing
- food environment
- natural and sustainable environments
- transport.
Healthy weight environments: using the planning system (2021)
This guide explores how local authorities’ public health and planning teams can promote healthy weight environments.
Improving Access to Green Spaces – A New Review for 2020
There is substantial evidence that access to good quality green spaces is good for people’s mental and physical health, and reduces health inequalities. This report from Public Health England sets out the evidence. (Published 2020).
This guide is for local authority public health and planning teams and supports the use of Health Impact Assessment in the spatial planning process.
Working together to promote active travel – a briefing for local authorities. (2016)
This guide suggests a range of practical action for local authorities, from overall policy to practical implementation. It highlights the importance of community involvement and sets out key steps for transport and public health practitioners.
Public Health Scotland
Place and wellbeing: integrating land use planning and public health in Scotland (2021)
The way we plan and design the built environment can have a profound impact on people’s health and wellbeing. By working together and taking a ‘whole systems approach’, Scottish public authorities can improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities.
Sport England
How can we create places where it’s easy for everyone to be active as part of their everyday lives? Helpful guidance from Sport England that’s about active design in its widest sense, not just sport.
National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE)
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has produced guidance for addressing air pollution through strategic planning and in determining planning applications.
