At the end of March, the UK House of Lords Built Environment Committee published its New Towns: Creating Communities report, the second module of its inquiry into delivering successful, sustainable new towns.
We were pleased to see that the Healthy and Sustainable Places Data Service’s written evidence was cited throughout the report, with several of our key themes reflected in the Committee’s findings.
Our Evidence Reflected in Key Themes
In reviewing wide-ranging submissions, the Committee noted strong agreement across contributors on the importance of designing new towns that proactively support community health and wellbeing.
They highlighted that, while many organisations emphasised the need to embed health from the outset, a small number of specific interventions were repeatedly recommended – all areas we flagged in our own evidence.
These included:
- Innovative community based healthcare models
- Maximising opportunities for active travel
- Ensuring access to community cultural spaces
- Providing high quality green space
The report goes on to underline that green space emerged as the single most prominent and frequently cited health intervention across the entire inquiry.
Lizzy McHugh, HASP’s Impact and Partnerships Manager, said: “It was encouraging to see our recommendations echoed by other experts and organisations across the sector. This report reinforces the importance of designing new towns with health, mobility, nature, and social infrastructure at the core – principles at the heart of our mission to improve understanding of place, health and sustainability through smart data.”
Supporting Evidence Informed Placemaking
HASP’s contribution to the inquiry reflects our ongoing commitment to providing robust, data driven insights that help shape healthier, more sustainable neighbourhoods. We look forward to continuing our work with policymakers, planners and partners to support evidence informed decision-making as the new towns programme evolves.
If you’d like to learn more about our research or discuss how HASP can support your work, please contact us at [email protected].
