A post-graduate course called Healthy Built Environments is currently offered at UNSW.
An undergraduate course called
Healthy Planning
is currently taught at UNSW.
Click here for more information
On 7th April 2014, World Health Day was celebrated across the globe. The Healthy Built Environments Program held its ‘Making !t Happen’ Symposium on this day as a contribution to the generation of lasting actions for improving health. The aim of the Symposium was to explore different ideas about activating healthy built environments, reinforcing the HBEP’s and colleagues’ work over the last four and a half years getting many of the foundations for a healthy built environment in place. Examples include the inclusion of a specific health objective in the NSW Planning Bill 2013 (read our submissions on this here ) and developing the capacity of professionals in the health and built environment sectors to deliver healthy built environments.
The Symposium started with two inspiring keynote presentations, followed by a vision session and a field trip around inner Sydney suburbs which are rapidly densifying. Read the full program notes here . You can listen to Jonathan Daly’s presentation, entitled Cooperation – the basis for healthy urban environments , by clicking here . Iain Butterworth’s presentation, Building partnerships to create healthy built environments , can be accessed here . Click here to access the report on the Visioning a Healthy Built Environment Seminar led by Professor Peter Sainsbury.
The images below show (from top to bottom): Participants at the Symposium during the Keynotes Session; the Symposium Vision Session; field trip participants inspecting the new light rail extension at Summer Hill; and inspecting open space at Victoria Park.
On 6 December 2013, the HBEP hosted a Curriculum Workshop with visiting US Fulbright Specialist Professor Andrew Dannenberg and a range of public health and built environment educators from institutions across Australia and Asia. The purpose of the workshop was to discuss achievements, opportunities and barriers in advancing healthy built environments curriculum development and education, and to reflect on the next steps for improving practices in this space. You can read the Curriculum Workshop Report here .
Read the full report from the HBEP, Heart Foundation and PCAL sponsored Exploring Urban Density workshop held on 29 October, 2012 here . Please note that a stand-alone copy of the keynote presentation is available on the Heart Foundation’s Density and Health website page. Full and summary versions of the literature review can also be downloaded from this page. See http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/active-living/built-environment/Pages/Density-and-Health.aspx
On November 15-16 the NSW Health Promotion Symposium was held in Sydney. The main theme of the symposium was "Creating Environments to Improve Health". Please find below the slides of some of the presentations from the symposium.
John Buchanan: Developing Models of Sustainable Work: Enhancing Health and Productivity
Tony Capon: Designing Healthy Communities: Weaving the Threads Together
Anne Deans: Young People: The Same But Different
Jack Harrison: Implementation of Smoke Free Prisons in New Zealand
Ben Harris-Roxas: Social Media: Friend or Foe?
Peter McCue: Workplace Travel Plans – A NSW Update
Paul Tranter et al.: Next Steps in Creating Environments to Improve Health
Paul Tranter: Creating Healthy Environments? It's Child's Play
The Healthy Built Environments Program has compiled some regional and rural case studies from a variety of Australian and international sources. Click
here
to access the case studies.
We hope they will assist colleagues in regional and rural areas to implement healthy built environments. Let us know of other regional and rural case studies. We will update these regularly
On this page we provide links to lectures, forums, educational videos and literature on a variety of healthy built environment topics. We welcome suggestions for additional resources.
Learn about healthy planning from the HBEP team.
Transport Systems and Public Health: the Case of Traffic Congestion
Built Environment public lecture by Associate Professor Ghassan Abu-Lebdeh (American University of Sharjah, UAE, and Visiting Scholar, University of Washington, Seattle). This talk examines the issue of prolonged driving in congested traffic conditions, which is a form chronic stress and a serious long term health risk. Associate Professor Abu-Lebdeh explains the human health side of traffic congestion, showing that traffic control can be optimised with explicit consideration of stress. To see the slides from Ghassan's lecture, please click
here
.
How the Design of Our Cities Can Support Human Health and Sustainability
Public Lecture by Professor Andrew Dannenberg, University of Washington, Seattle, USA. To listen to Andrew’s lecture, please click
here
.
Secured by Automobility: Why does the private car continue to dominate transport practices?
Built Environment Faculty Seminar by Dr Jennifer Kent, Healthy Built Environments Program, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW. To listen to Jennifer’s lecture, please click
here
.
Healthy Community Design: Current Research and Opportunities
Built Environment Faculty Seminar by Professor Andrew Dannenberg, University of Washington, Seattle, USA. To see the slides from Andrew's seminar please click
here
.
Marketplace: How the rise of food quarters in contemporary London is transforming spaces and changing lives
Public lecture by Dr Susan Parham, Head of Urbanism, Centre for Sustainable Communities, University of Hertfordshire UK. To listen to Susan’s lecture please click
here
.
Healthy Community Design and Active Transport
Public Lecture by Professor Andrew Dannenberg, University of Washington, Seattle, USA. To listen to Andrew's lecture please click
here
.
Access to Healthy Food
Here we have resources for you about the importance of access to healthy food. Mainly we provide documents from a forum that the Healthy Built Environments Program hosted together with Kiama Council in May 2012. The forum focused on how local councils can work with health agencies and members of the community to enhance access to healthy food. To access these resources please click
here
.
2011 HBEP Annual Forum Presentations
Oran Park and Turner Road Health Impact Assessment
By: Michelle Maxwell (Population Health, Clinical Support Division - Western)
A Rural Perspective of the Healthy Built Environment
By: Andrew Gow (Population Health, Planning and Performance - Southern and Murrumbidgee Local Health Districts)
Healthy Built Environments: Some Recent Work by Population Health Northern Sydney and Central Coast
By: Paul Klarenaar (Northern Beaches Health Promotion)
Sustainable Healthcare Facility Design
By: Jane Carthey (Health Facilities Architect)
From Tigger's to Milford House with love (5:46 min)
HBEP Director Susan Thompson took part in this video about the importance of fostering social connections across generations. The video depicts the relationship between the children of Tigger’s Honeypot, a child care centre at UNSW, and residents of Milford House, an aged care facility in nearby Randwick. It illustrates the multiple well-being benefits both groups gained from regular interactions and friendships that developed over time.
Feeding the Future - Part 1: Food Security (4:49 min)
Watch this video to learn about the importance of urban agriculture for food security and access to healthy fresh produce that is grown locally. While more than 60% of Sydney's fresh produce is grown close to the city, this agricultural land use is increasingly under threat because of the growing needs for housing. This video features Associate Professor Susan Thompson, HBEP Director, and Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, Linda Corkery.
Feeding the Future - Part 2: Community Greengrocers (4:42)
Community gardens are one type of urban agriculture that's growing faster than Jack's beanstalk. But it's not just the chemical-free produce that's good for your health, suggests Associate Professor Susan Thompson, who heads up UNSW's Healthy Built Environments Program.
Tackling Climate Change: The Good News (8:36 min)
The message about climate change, and what we would need to do to tackle it, is usually one of doom and gloom, sacrifice and cost. However, the true picture may be far more positive in terms of the effects on our health and therefore the economic impact. The good news is this: many measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will have health 'co-benefits', some of which are quite surprising. This is above and beyond the benefits to come from reducing climate change itself. This video reports research published in the Lancet in 2009. For an Australian perspective, see the special issue entitled ‘Chronic Disease and Climate Change: Understanding co-benefits and their policy implications’ in the NSW Health Bulletin , 2010, V 21 (5-6) .
Social Interactions and Your Health (1:50 min)
Being socially connected to others is critical in maintaining a healthy life. Research has found that the health risks of social isolation are comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day, being an alcoholic, or being physically inactive. Watch this video for some key information. Read the HBEP Literature Review on connecting and strengthening communities to find out more.
23 and 1/2 Hours: What is the Single Best Thing We Can Do for our Health? (9:19 min)
This video, by Mike Evans, an Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of Toronto, is about what people can do for their health. It focuses on the health benefits of physical activity. The key message is that people should accumulate at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity per day. The HBEP Literature Review includes an overview of key research on how the built environment can support people being physically active as part of every day living.
Making Physical Activity Fun (1:48 min)
See how stair walking can be encouraged in a fun and creative way!
Utzon Lecture Series 2011: 'Sustainable Use of Public Space' (62:57 min)
Listen to the lecture presented by Lars Gemzøe of Gehl Architects (Copenhagen). Lars spoke about sustainable use of public transport, focusing on walking and cycling in cities. This lecture was presented on 18th May 2011 as part of the Faculty of the Built Environment’s Utzon Lecture Series .
The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces (58:15 min)
Hear William H. Whyte talk about his detailed and fascinating observations of people using public space. His pioneering observational research and methodical recording shows what we can learn about the relationship between people and place. This video is a part of William H. Whyte's famous film about the open spaces of cities and why some of them work for people while others do not.
Sydney 2030 Vision (75:19 min)
Be inspired by Lord Mayor Clover Moore, as she speaks about ‘Sydney 2030’. This Plan is about changing current patterns of living, working and playing in Australia’s largest city – now and into the future. The vision for Sydney is green, global and connected. Hear how ‘Sydney 2030’ evolved and how the Plan will transform the city – including getting around sustainably by walking and cycling, as well as using light rail and reliable public transport. You can read lots more about ‘Sydney 2030’ on the Sydney City Council’s website .
General Overviews
Practice Guides
Other useful publications