Understanding the health and sustainability of places
We utilise smart data to better understand and improve the health and sustainability of places. We are part of the Smart Data Research UK family of data services.
The importance of place
Places are complex.
They are an ever-changing environment where social interactions, economic opportunities, nature, history and cultural practices all mix together to create distinct social environments.
Yet these same places can also reveal stark inequalities – from access to healthcare, mobility and transport to the availability of green space and high-quality affordable food.
Smart data provides the opportunity to examine, understand and provide solutions to the challenges facing different places.
To achieve this, we work closely with data owners, researchers and policymakers to utilise diverse and high-quality data in our key domain areas: healthy and sustainable mobility, and healthy and sustainable lifestyles and food.
What we do
Working with partners
Enabling secure data sharing and collaboration between researchers, public and private sectors to unlock the power of smart data for place-based insights.
Supporting researchers
Providing access and support for researchers to use diverse and high-quality smart data, alongside contextual open data, to improve understanding of place-based inequalities.
Sharing insights
Making place-based data and insights on lifestyle, diet and mobility behaviours accessible to everyone through our research ready data products and publications.
Our research themes
Health
HASP focuses on a broad spectrum of human health outcomes and how they relate to the places in which people live and work. This includes access to good quality food, options for active travel, clean air and green space, shaped by socio demographic indicators.
Sustainability
Understanding sustainability is integral to the research that HASP supports. Sustainability relates to both the environment and behaviour, manifesting in the way that people travel, consume, and interact with the places they live and work.
Place
Place is a fundamental concept for how we understand society through HASP, allowing us to shape and direct policy, and deliver change. By bringing together different research lenses and a variety of smart data, HASP assesses how different and complex phenomena interact in place.
