Urban development and land professionals are being asked to take part in a research project, led by the University of Bristol, to help shape the way places are created for better population health.
The programme, Tackling the Root causes Upstream of Unhealthy Urban Development (TRUUD), is looking for people with a strong understanding of the land and development industries to take part in interviews to improve knowledge of how urban developers think about health when planning projects. The insight will help the research team build interventions that challenge and influence corporate mindsets towards healthier outcomes.
TRUUD, a transdisciplinary research programme involving more than forty researchers across six universities, aims to reduce non-communicable disease (such as cancers, diabetes, obesity, mental ill-health and respiratory illness) and health inequalities linked to the quality of urban planning and development.
Looking at the way land and development industries view health in their practice is led by Dr Krista Bondy at the University of Stirling. She said:
“Improving the health of urban communities is a very complex issue. We know from our initial research with 132 professionals from across the urban development system in the UK that dominant ways of thinking are a barrier to achieving this.
“This next phase of our research takes a more in-depth look at the way urban development professionals think and are influenced about health considerations to help us build meaningful tools for the industry.”
The interviews will be conducted by an academic during an hour-long video call by mid-February 2024. Anyone interested in taking part can contact Sophie Turnbull at the University of Bristol by email – sophie.turnbull@bristol.ac.uk.
There is also an opportunity for participants to become advisors to the research programme.
Notes for Editors
- Tackling Root causes upstream of Unhealthy Urban Development (TRUUD) is a research project, based at the University of Bristol, looking at how urban centres can be planned to reduce health inequalities. It brings together experts from academia, industry and government to recommend and create new tools and processes for healthier cities. The project counts the cost of poor health, works with communities to communicate the issues they face and maps out the decision-making process in creating urban centres and includes two active case-studies in Bristol and Manchester.
- TRUUD is supported by the UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP), an initiative funded by UK Research and Innovation Councils, the Department of Health and Social Care and the UK devolved administrations, and leading health research charities.
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