Linking environmental and human health in English urban development decision-making: the human health literacy of environmental policy

In this paper we provide an overview of the UK environmental regulatory framework for subnational policy and planning in devolved English urban areas based on a systematic coding of key legislation and policies against a matrix of sustainability attributes relevant for human health. Our findings suggest that while various elements of sustainability at different scales are addressed to differing degrees, we need to move beyond the ‘three-legged stool’ of sustainability to assess linked environmental and societal health impacts. Assessing policy using a multifaceted lens of sustainability such as the one we propose can help to uncover health-development dependencies and the incentives and governance required to enhance these at different scales (planetary, regional, neighbourhood and building). We propose a coordinative role for spatial planning to integrate responses to socio-environmental health priorities for sustainable development and make recommendations for dynamic decision-making on environmental and human health impacts in urban development settings. Doing so can help promote just (equitable) transitions, decoupled from a pervasive ecological modernization discourse that frames the political economy of planning at both the national and local levels.

For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a ‘Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising.

Journal Special Issue https://www.alexandrinepress.co.uk/built-environment/urban-planning-...