Health and the Built Environment

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The supportive role of the built environment for human health is a growing area of interdisciplinary research, evidence-based
policy development, and related practice. Nevertheless, despite closely linked origins, the contemporary professions of public
health and urban planning largely operate within the neoliberal framework of academic, political, and policy silos. A reinvigorated
relationship between the two is fundamental to building and sustaining an effective “healthy built environment profession.” A
recent comprehensive review of the burgeoning literature on healthy built environments identified an emergent theme which
we have termed “Professional Development.” This literature relates to the development of relationships between health and built
environment professionals. It covers case studies illustrating good practice models for policy change, as well as ways professionals
can work to translate research into policy. Intertwined with this empirical research is a dialogue on theoretical tensions emerging
as health and built environment practitioners and researchers seek to establish mutual understanding and respect. The nature
of evidence required to justify policy change, for example, has surfaced as an area of asynchrony between accepted disciplinary
protocols. Our paper discusses this important body of research with a view to initiating and supporting the ongoing development
of an interdisciplinary profession of healthy planning.

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