The built environment in anti-obesity policy

This collection consists of 23 interview transcripts in word format. In the context of policy calls for planners in the UK to 'return to their public health roots' to tackle obesity despite a lack of evidence about 'what works', this project sought to investigate the role of the 'planner' in policy strategies to tackle obesity. It did this through a mixed methods approach involving a survey of 35 newly qualified planners; telephone interviews with staff who teach on RTPI accredited planning courses in 10 HE institutions in the UK; focus group discussions with students on planning courses at 4 universities in the UK; interviews with 15 representatives from planning, transport and public health departments in local authorities in the NW England; and interviews with 6 representatives from national bodies working in this field. <p>Due to increasing concern with what's been termed 'obesogenic environments', there have been calls for planners to 'return to their public health roots', to design 'healthy towns/cities'.
However, there is significant uncertainty in the 'science' surrounding obesity and a lack of evidence about 'what works' in relation to urban design. Planning professionals are therefore being asked to design healthy spaces, with no consensus on how to do this.
This research aims to investigate how planners resolve this imperative to act now with the lack of evidence about what works. Using mixed (qualitative and quantitative) methods, it will explore the experiences of urban design professionals in three case study locations in NW England, the provision of training in higher education institutions across the UK, and the intersections between health and other design imperatives associated with sustainable communities in national and local policy.
Project outcomes will inform Continuing Professional Development provision (CPD) and higher education training for planners and will contribute to academic debates concerning the relationship between bodies, health and place; pre-emptive politics; the role of (urban) space in attempts to secure a sustainable future; and the politics of obesity.

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