‘Healthy Streets for All’ campaign kicks off

Urban Transport Group has launched a new initiative aimed at supporting UK cities to shape urban environments around people and their health.

‘Healthy Streets for All’ has been put together in collaboration with the public health expert Lucy Saunders, and will involve a year-long period of activity from the Urban Transport Group featuring reports, videos, events, webinars, tools, infographics, and opinion pieces.

The initiative will aim to ensure that decision making on transport, the built environment and public realm prioritises health

The programme will draw heavily from the ‘Healthy Streets Approach’, Urban Transport Group says, which ensures that decision making on transport, the built environment and public realm prioritises health and the human experience.

The Approach is centred around 10 Healthy Streets Indicators, aimed at ensuring that everyone feels welcome; and people choose to walk, cycle and use public transport.

Other indicators include ensuring that people feel relaxed, roads are easy to cross, air is clean, the environment is not too noisy, there are places to stop and rest, people feel safe, there are things to see and do and shade and shelter.

Principles

Lucy Saunders said: “Healthy Streets is now a central plank of policy-making in London. But the principles and tools are applicable to any town or city wishing to place people, and their health and wellbeing at the centre of decision-making on transport and urban planning.

“Through this collaboration we want to highlight how the approach can be adapted to reflect streets and experiences outside of London, and to work with cities to understand how the concept can be used to inform policymaking locally.”

Jon Lamonte, Urban Transport Group’s lead board member on health and wellbeing and Chief Executive of Transport for Greater Manchester, added: “The Healthy Streets approach has proved to be a highly effective way of turning the theoretical benefits of linking transport and health with positive outcomes on the ground. Greater Manchester’s forthcoming ‘Streets for All’ strategy demonstrates how these principles are relevant and adaptable to any city.

“This collaboration between Urban Transport Group and Lucy Saunders will be incredibly valuable as we put our strategy into practice.”

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Urban Transport Group