Briefing: Reuniting health and planning in England – reflections from the front line

Policy and practice reforms to planning and public health in England provide fresh opportunities for built environment professions to tackle health inequalities and create healthier environments. The Town and Country Planning Association's Reuniting health with planning programme reports that local authorities are improving collaboration between public health practitioners, planners and related professionals as a first step towards achieving better health outcomes from development. However, progress risks being hampered by an overall drive by government to prioritise economic development over balanced sustainable development as the primary outcome of the planning system, despite its stated policy objectives. This could have long-term negative consequences for addressing spatial inequalities and perpetuate some of the ill-health that people experience in urban environments. Stakeholders in the development sector need to adopt the principle that all new development should contribute to healthier places rather than adding to the existing health