World Toilet Day: Launching the London Loo Alliance
On Tuesday this week, World Toilet Day was celebrated across the world – laugh if you want, but it’s a long-established event led by...
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Oct 263 min read
Health and Housing – are we at an inflection point?
Earlier this month the British Medical Journal published results of a survey by the Royal College of GPs on time spent on non-clinical...
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Oct 134 min read
Designing local initiatives for health impact – lessons from Uganda
As preventative health features prominently in the government’s agenda and in particular as a focus for improving the NHS , I’m...
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Sep 233 min read
Two easy wins for healthier places
In the wake of Lord Darzi’s report on the NHS , the IPPR report on the nation’s health , and the government’s renewed focus on...
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Jul 294 min read
Where health meets planning – lessons from Wales
As the new government tries to reconcile how to grow the economy by accelerating investment in new housing with a commitment to public...
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Jul 165 min read
Private finance, public infrastructure
Our new government has pledged to limit tax rises while at the same time promising to invest in our NHS, education and energy...
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Jun 274 min read
Making London more swimmable
There’s an ad going round social media this week by the city of Oslo, presented with irony by a droll Norwegian who asks if Oslo is “even...
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Jun 134 min read
CIL, health and health equity
Over the last year I’ve seen more and more reports of the tensions in local communities created by new housing development and the...
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May 293 min read
Supermarkets and Healthy Placemaking
Earlier this month, Asda unveiled plans for a “transformational Mixed-Use Redevelopment of its ten-acre Park Royal site in North West...
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Apr 253 min read
Vulnerable in the city
“Vulnerability” comes from the Latin word for wound – vulnis. It’s the state of being open to injury, or appearing as if you are. Feeling...
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Apr 125 min read
Infrastructure First
Along with wet weather, April came in with a blast of Nimby v Yimby hot air. So far this month, we’ve learned that Keir Starmer has...
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Mar 44 min read
Notes from a Blue Zone
I spent last week in Singapore which, along with many other accolades, has been designated the world’s sixth Blue Zone, and the world’s...
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Feb 75 min read
Toilets are the talk of the town
2024 is starting off with a bang for London’s public toilet campaigners. As conversations came to a head (!) toward the end of last year...
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Jan 266 min read
Planning across space, time and specialism: an interview with Michael Edwards
I first met Michael Edwards in 2021 through Just Space, a network of London-based community organisations which he and others set up in...
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Jan 174 min read
Will 2024 be the Year of the Marmot City?
Happy new year – and what a year 2024 has started out to be, as global, national and local events unfold and impact us all in different...
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Dec 8, 20234 min read
Improving Health through the Built Environment – panel discussion at the NHS ICS/ICB Congress
The GIANT Health event, now in its tenth year, took place earlier this week, and I was invited to convene a panel for the NHS ICS/ICB...
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Nov 21, 20234 min read
Be part of a community-led approach to assessing health impact
I’m delighted to share this blog from Josh Artus at Centric Lab. What they’re doing in rethinking and redesigning Health Impact...
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Nov 7, 20233 min read
Developers, health and place – connecting the dots
At a time when evidence is fast increasing on how the built environment impacts our individual and collective health, it is regrettable...
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Oct 26, 20234 min read
Grasping the low-hanging fruit that will make our places happier & healthier
“Low hanging fruit”, when not in an orchard setting, refers to tasks or projects that can be easily and quickly completed before moving...
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Oct 12, 20234 min read
Borrow some medical practice to build healthy homes and places
This past year has seen real progress in demonstrating how our built environment - the homes & places where we live – impacts our...
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