Healthy Urban Planning Barton & Tsourour

Healthy Urban Planning
Barton and Tsourou Spon Press 2000 £21.99

No not jogging at the drawing board but a plea, that when considering urban planning proposals, factors influencing the health of citizens are taken into account and opportunities for healthier lifestyles are fully recognised.

Drawing on the findings of the World Health Organisation's Healthy Cities project Hugh Barton and Catherine Tsourou make a plea for a holistic and integrated approach to city planning. In 184 pages we are led through a two part discussion. Part One makes the case for linking health issues with the practice of city planning, examines concepts of healthy planning in relation to notions of sustainability and briefly describes the experiences of those cities, including Belfast and Newcastle, participating in the WHO's Healthy Cities project. Part Two sets out a series of guidelines aimed at ensuring, first, settlements as a whole and secondly, neighbourhoods are planned in order to encourage healthy lifestyles. Part two concludes with a series of questions set out as a checklist against which to judge an urban project.

There is a familiar feel to many of the concepts presented but this is not to denigrate the value of bringing these ideas together. There is a desire for "an ecological approach" to city building and a laudable intention of " making towns and cities good places to live". There are some ideas that are put forward without any explicit argument. One that would have been worthy of deeper examination is the notion that cities with more than 5km radius should be viewed critically and decentralisation considered. At a more detailed level there is the interesting notion that gardening areas should be provided close to schools. The authors acknowledge that there are trends that work against their view of healthy living and in particular they urge action to counter the growth of the "interest based community as distinct from the place based community".

The text is clearly written and thoroughly referenced and illustrated by short case studies through out. There are good clear diagrams that make the book a good introduction to healthy planning concepts. A good example is the figure illustrating "The main determinants of health". But is a concern for public health really a matter for the Urban Designer or is this a concern only for the policy maker and politician? Do we need to make room for the public health professional at the urban design table? This is no design guide but it does set the scene and it is a helpful and important aid in undertaking Stage One of the Urban Design Compendium's "Design Management Flowchart". This is a book to have in the library but not at the bedside. #

Richard Cole