The origins of planning, in particular in the UK,
can be closely traced to increasing public health concerns. The growing
industrialization of nineteenth century cities created specific health
impacts, from the air pollution generated by factories to the
overcrowded housing for workers. Early urban planning models were
therefore partly driven by a desire to address the worsening state of
public health. Most notably, Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City Movement
referred to a utopian town where the air and water were pure and smoke
and slums had been eliminated. Even the urban renewal of the 1960’s was
loosely justified as a tool to eliminate overcrowding and the
associated negative health conditions. Yet reading most current city
plans it would be easy to forget the close connections between health
and the built environment. Health issues may crop up in relation to
environmental impacts, but very rarely is public health fully considered
as a topic to which planning can effectively contribute.
It
was therefore refreshing to attend the Walk21 conference held in
Vancouver in early October to reconnect the health and planning
professions.
