Can Health Impact Assessments meaningfully influence the design and planning of development proposals? Reflections of an inner-London Borough
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Authors
Lui, Johnny
Millar-McMeeken, Euan
Siemers, Clare
Milentijevic, Aleksandra
Quin, Matthew
Twite, Simon
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Issue Date
2025-08-05
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Article
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Abstract
When carried out in a timely and collaborative manner, Health Impact Assessments (HIAs) should inform key design decisions during the planning and implementation of urban development projects. However, they are often produced at the end of the planning process to fulfil a local planning requirement, confirming that a proposal is acceptable in its final form, rather than informing it. They are often carried out by specialist consultants who are not involved in the design process, and the reports are often produced with little involvement from the design team. As a group of colleagues responsible for the implementation of an HIA policy at an inner-London local authority, we have explored ways of integrating the HIA process within the design and planning process, ensuring they are more than a mere ‘tick-box’ exercise. Collaborating closely with planning, public health and design officers, we have worked to bring health conversations to planning discussions earlier on, long before an application is submitted. This opinion piece describes some of the approaches we have tried, lessons learnt and the strategies we may consider next.
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Citation
Lui, J. et al. (2025) 'Can Health Impact Assessments meaningfully influence the design and planning of development proposals? Reflections of an inner-London Borough,' Cities & Health, 9(4), pp. 630–643. https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2025.2526262.
Publisher
Taylor and Francis