healthy spaces and places
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This article was downloaded by: [University of Cambridge]On: 20 December 2014, At: 13:58Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: MortimerHouse, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK
Australian PlannerPublication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rapl20
Healthy spaces and placesPublished online: 22 Dec 2010.
To cite this article: (2007) Healthy spaces and places, Australian Planner, 44:2, 14-15, DOI:10.1080/07293682.2007.9982563
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07293682.2007.9982563
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14 AustraiianPlanner / V0U4 ' n o : 06.2007
The National Heart Foundation of Australia (Heart Foundation),
the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) and the Australian
Local Government Association (ALGA), with support from
the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing, have
recently commenced a project to develop national planning
guidelines to provide an integrated approach to the design of
healthy built environments for Australians. The project is titled
Healthy spaces and places: National guidelines for planners.
There has been increased community, media, academic and government
attention to the increasing health burden attributed to rising obesity
levels, declining physical activity levels, injuries and falls and related
poor mental health. The impact of these issues is increasing and is likely
to continue to increase in the presence of an ageing community. There is
also increasing evidence of the role that the built environment can play
in promoting an active lifestyle and overall wellness, in terms of physical
activity, mental health and being an active community member.
The Healthy spaces andplaces Project aims to improve health
outcomes for all Australians through better designed built
environments. This project will provide guidance to planning
practitioners and related professions (working in state and local
government and the private sector) on how to incorporate active living
principles into the built environment. Built environments can include
elements such as neighbourhood centres, public transport, cycleways,
walkways and recreation areas.
The project specifically addresses how the built environment
can assist:
» keeping healthcare affordable;
» wellness and obesity; and
» healthy ageing;
by providing an environment which encourages and promotes active
living (walking, cycling, play) for all age groups and fosters social capital
and sense of community.
The impetus to commence the project arose from a number of sources:
» The Heart Foundation has been working in the active living area for
a number of years through its Supportive Environments for Physical
Activity Project and more recently the Active by Design Project. In 2004,
the Heart Foundation (Victorian Division) produced Healthy by Design:
a planner's guide to environments for active living in response to local
government requests for practical guidance in designing healthier
and ultimately more liveable communities. Following the success of
this resource in Victoria and subsequent national uptake, the Heart
Foundation recognised the need for a national approach;
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» PIA has an ongoing project with the Victorian Department of Hea l th -
Health and Well Being Project, and through this project has identified
the value of having national guidelines for planners available;
» The Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing conducted a
National Speakers Series in 2005 with over 1000 participants and one
of the key recommendations was to develop national guidelines for
planners to promote active living;
» ALGA has developed an Ageing Toolbox and wants to broaden the
coverage to include planning for all ages.
Another key factor has been the recognition that to address these
complex issues a partnership approach will be required. An important
aspect of this project is the partnership that has been established,
which brings key agencies together in a collaborative approach.
Given the interests of the partners, plus the increasing level of
research and knowledge in this area, an initial scoping meeting was held
in Canberra in September 2006 to discuss the establishment of a national
project to develop national guidelines for planners.
All partners agreed to commit and support the development of the
national guidelines. It is proposed that the guidelines will take a national
perspective and address strategic and practical applications and include
supporting case studies addressing different geographical scales, policy
agendas and target groups. The guidelines will have applicability to all
levels of government and the development industry, and provide an
integrated, cross-sectoral approach, highly relevant to policy delivery at
the state/territory and local levels.
There has already been a lot of work done at the Federal/State/
Territory Government level around this issue and the partners will
encompass this policy work into these guidelines.
The proposed guidelines will build on some of this previous work
including the Heart Foundation's resource, Healthy by Design: a
planners' guide to environments for active living, the New South Wales
Premier's Council for Active Living website, the ALGA Local Government
Ageing toolbox: a guide to action, and a number of other local initiatives
across the country.
The project has been designed as a four stage process. Each six month
stage will broadly cover:
» Stage 1—Scoping and targeted stakeholder consultation
(Febo7-Juneo7)
» Stage 2—Finalising guidelines, including consultation (July O7-Deco7)
» Stage 3—Implementation (Dec 07-June 08)
» Stage 4—Evaluation and review (June 08-Dec 08)
The Partners have formed a Steering Committee and have agreed to:
» A Memorandum of Understanding to guide the project which includes
intent and involvement in the project
» Operating principles for the Steering Committee
» A regular program of meetings and an agreed work plan for all phases
of the project
The first stage of the project (till June 2007) will review current research
and policy settings, undertake targeted stakeholder consultation and
develop the broad scope for the draft national guidelines. This first stage
is funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing
which has enabled a small project team to be established within PIA to
support the Steering Committee. The PIA project team comprises Liz de
Chastel, Anne Moroney, Stephanie McCarthy and Stephanie Knox The
Steering Committee is currently investigating funding sources for Stages
2-4 of the project.
Another key aspect of the project is the consultation being
undertaken with the planning and health sector to find out what is being
done in this area, ideas for the guidelines and feedback at various stages
of the development of the guidelines.
The Steering Committee welcomes input from the planning
profession on these proposed guidelines, and ideas, information,
suggestions or case studies can be forwarded to Anne Moroney at
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