Quality of public space,
well-being and health in
BME communities
Dr Edward Hobson
Head of research and futures
The government’s advisor on architecture, urban
design and public space
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In outline
 An age old problem of resource distribution
 Contemporary drivers require a joined up response
 Understanding similarity and difference
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Patterns2
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Patterns3
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Patterns4
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Patterns
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‘We
face a major economic crisis
and we face a still bigger climate
crisis and by thinking through
clearly and carefully, and acting
quickly, we can respond to both of
them at the same time.
Lord Stern, January 2009
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Climate change: the biggest global health
threat of the 21st century
“Managing the health effects of climate change”
Lancet/UCL Commission (16 May 2009)
 Key areas of impact
– patterns of disease and mortality
– food security
– water and sanitation
– shelter and human settlements
– extreme events
– population migration
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What’s good for people’s health is good for
the planet too
 “We must develop win–win situations whereby we
mitigate and adapt to climate change and at the
same time significantly improve human health and
wellbeing. There are major health benefits from
low-carbon lifestyles, which can reduce obesity,
heart and lung disease, diabetes and stress.”
Professor Anthony Costello (UCL Institute for Global Health)
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Moderating extreme temperatures
High density residential
Max surface temp (°C)
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current form
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-10% green
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+10% green
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1970s
2020s
Low
2020s
High
2050s
Low
2050s
High
2080s
Low
2080s
High
Time period and scenario
Adaptation Strategies for Climate Change in Urban Environments (ASCCUE), University of Manchester
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Heatwave impact on London
The Urban Heat Island Effect
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Persistent incidences of deprivation
Lindsay, 2008
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Health, well-being climate change
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Different parts of the UK will be affected in different ways and the social
impacts may well be more pronounced in more economically vulnerable
areas.
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Disproportionate effect on the vulnerable in society – the elderly, the poor,
those with less choice to avoid poorer quality internal and external
environments. Particularly severe direct impacts include
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–
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Urban heat island effect – overheating
Fuel and energy insecurity
Surface water flooding
Reduced air quality
A report by the Roundtable on Climate Change and Poverty in the UK
emphasises the interconnectedness between climate change and poverty –
and that it is possible to tackle both together.
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Links between quality of public space, health and well-being
Value for exercise
unquestionable
MIND ‘Ecotherapy’ should be recognised as a
clinically valid treatment for mental distress (2007)
74% of people believe parks and open
spaces are important to people’s health
and well being
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Proving the links between quality of public
space, well-being and health
 Overall, research presents a clear positive relationship between
green space, well-being and health.
 BUT: evidence base as a whole is highly variable
- Self-reported data limiting value
- Findings can’t support cause and effect, correlations only
- Limited use of objective measurements in physical exercise
studies
- Findings not transferable outside specific study context
(Source: Greenspace Scotland commissioned critical literature reviews 2007,2008)
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Other relevant work?
 Building Health: Creating and
Enhancing Places for Healthy, Active
Lives: What needs to be done?
 Future Health (provisional title)
Making the links between health, well
being and sustainability
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Making green spaces deliver more
 Importance of a strategic approach - green
infrastructure for environmental and social
benefits
 Do we have the information to support this
approach?
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Making the most of existing data and
developing the evidence base
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Initial scoping study
‘Green and Pleasant’ research:
1. Creating a baseline of evidence
of the current state of England’s
urban green space
2. Mapping and understanding the
links between deprivation, race
and ethnicity and quality of
urban green space
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The ‘state’ of England’s urban green spaces
 Inventory of over 17,000 spaces in 154 urban local
authorities
 Indicators around 6 themes: quantity, quality, use,
accessibility, management and maintenance and
value
 14 core indicators as a baseline for future trends
 Data gaps and limitations
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Some of the barriers to defining the
country’s urban green spaces
 No single, national indicator or dataset on quality
 Cleanliness or maintenance information only
 No dataset of quantity
 Deciding specific bundles of characteristics
 Combination of objective and subjective indicators
 Difficult to isolate the impacts
 Measurability and data availability driving definitions
of quality of life and quality of public space
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Barriers continued….
 Acute lack of skills e.g. 68% said a lack of
horticulture skills is affecting service delivery
 Shortage of professionals such as landscape
architects and green space managers
 Collecting data is like eating your greens!
 Shortage of directly applicable National Indicators
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Features of public space not measured in
national datasets
Type of feature of quality of
public space
Feature
Condition/maintenance
Robust, Adaptable
Design
Well-designed, Legible
Has sense of enclosure
User
Healthy
Space for social interaction
Fulfilling, Relaxing
Function
Community resource
Vital and viable, Functional
Source: CABE scoping study into the links between quality of public space and
quality of life
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Aspirations for public space
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1. Clean: a clean and well cared-for place
2. Accessible: a place that is easy to get to and move through
3. Attractive: a visually pleasing place
4. Comfortable: somewhere that is pleasant to spend time in
5. Inclusive: a place that is welcoming to all
6. Vital and viable: a place that is well used in relation to its
predominant function(s)
7. Functional: a place that functions well at all times
8. Distinctive: somewhere that makes the most of its character
9. Safe and secure: somewhere that feels safe from harm
10 Robust: a place that stands up well to the pressures of everyday
use
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Moving beyond the urban centres - where
the quality dips
 [picture of a nice central park]
 What of the areas that don’t feature on the glossies
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A question of equity
 How is quality of urban green space important and
significant to health and well-being in people from
white British and black and minority ethnic groups
living in deprived areas of England?
 What is the impact of varying quality in urban
green space on well-being in these areas?
 What are the implications of these findings for
policy makers?
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Author
Method
Target group
Rishbeth, in press[1]
QUAL
(audio methodologies)
First generation migrants, Sheffield, and
use of urban streetscape, n=11
Dines et al 2006[2]
QUAL (focus groups) n=42,
ethnographic analysis, semistructured interviews (n=24)
Newham (cross-section of the local
residential population in terms of
ethnicity, age, gender and housing
tenure)
Rishbeth 2004[3],
2001[4]
QUAL+QUAN
(2 year, mixed methods, n=73)
Users of Chumleigh Gardens
(Southwark), Calthorpe Project
(King’s Cross) white British and
Asian/Africans
Topia-Kelly 2004[5]
QUAL
Biographies, n=22
Asian women
Ravenscroft and
Markwell 2000[6]
QUAL
Interviews of park users, (n=294)
plus observation
Teenage users of 8 parks in Reading
Woolley and Amin
1999[7]
QAUL+QUAN
Focus groups, questionnaire
(n=117)
Pakistani teenagers, age 13-18,Sheffield
Worpole and
Greenhalgh 1995[8]
QUAL+QUAN
surveys, interviews, observation,
12 LA’s
Ethnic park users in Middlesbrough,
Hounslow, Greenwich and Leicester
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Selecting areas to explore these
relationships
 6 case study areas in England: London, West Midlands and
North West
 On the ground audits of green space
 Facilitated face to face household questionnaire and focus
groups
 Largest survey of its kind in UK
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Tiers of analysis
Environmental audits of local green spaces
 Community group and independent evaluators
 Site visits and appraisals
Survey approaches
 Conjoint analysis of urban green space relative to other
environmental attributes
 Exploring relations across self-perceptions of well-being,
perceived quality and use of local green space
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Issues for consideration
 Whether there are convergent similarities or
significant differences between ethnic groups?
 Whether our assumptions hold for what is
significant and important to particular
communities?
 How this might affect the need and provision for
certain types of green space and the implications
for more responsive management.
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Equates to…
Sustainable design
Well being
and
happiness
Healthy design
Inclusive design
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East London Green Grid
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Thank you
ehobson@cabe.org.uk
cabe.org.uk
sustainablecities.org.uk