Design Codes for health and wellbeing
Guidance to boost health and wellbeing in new housing and communities
Our guide to preparing "Design Codes for Health and Wellbeing" provides practical advice for embedding health and wellbeing into the design coding process, ensuring that places support healthier lives for everyone.
- Collaborators:
- Quality of Life Futures, TCPA, TRUUD, and Henley Business School, with support from UDL
The guidance offers practical recommendations for tackling local health and wellbeing priorities. It is aimed at all of those involved in the design code process, and those interested in prioritising healthy placemaking principles within the built environment.
The guidance is designed for a wide range of stakeholders involved in the design coding process, including:
- Public health professionals, who can provide vital data on local health determinants and ensure health priorities are identified early.
- Local planning authorities, who can play a central role in requiring, specifying and embedding health into design codes and engaging communities in shaping their neighbourhoods.
- Urban designers and planners, who are responsible for creating codes and ensuring they are practical and deliver real health outcomes.
- Developers and investors, who have a responsibility to create and implement design codes that support healthy living and reflect community needs.
- Local politicians, who can champion health-focused placemaking to address inequalities.
- Residents, whose lived experiences are essential in shaping codes that reflect real local challenges and opportunities.
Core sections of the report build on current government guidance, so include: Movement; Context and Identity; Nature; Built form; Public space; Use; Homes and Buildings; Lifespan and Resources. The report also includes designing at scale as well as guidance on implementation and a checklist.
Cross-sector collaboration is a key component of the guidance. In addition to a section on involving the community, it stresses the importance of aligning planning, public health, highways, and community engagement teams to ensure design codes reflect local needs.
Design Codes for Health and Wellbeing has been developed in partnership with Quality of Life Futures, TCPA, TRUUD, and Henley Business School, with support from UDL.
The guidance is available to download here.