Oxford Properties, a leading global real estate investor, developer and manager, is partnering with the TRUUD research programme to help improve the way health is integrated into planning urban places.
Based at the University of Bristol, and with researchers across six different universities, TRUUD (Tackling the Root causes Upstream of Unhealthy Urban Development) is a £10 million research project, looking at how urban places can be planned to reduce non-communicable diseases such as cancers, diabetes, obesity, mental ill-health and respiratory illness.
Oxford Properties will be working with the intervention team based out of Stirling Management School to co-produce the ‘Changing Mindsets’ intervention. The collaboration will bring together new research from the TRUUD project with Oxford Properties’ experience and insights, with the aim of increasing the prioritisation of health and health inequalities by professionals working in urban development.
The intervention team is led by Dr Krista Bondy. She said:
“Working with experienced organisations, such as Oxford Properties, help the coproduction of effective messages on health that are interesting and relevant to industry, and take the issues and concerns of industry members seriously. Each industry has its own unique language and culture, and Oxford has the right expertise and influence to help us design our intervention to land effectively with real estate investors and developers.”
Harry Knibb, Director of Development, Europe, at Oxford Properties said:
“Our partnership with TRUUD comes at a pivotal moment as the industry is increasingly aware of, and able to measure, its impact. At Oxford, we’re committed to strengthening communities through real estate, and working with leading academics from research institutions has benefitted our consideration of the health impacts of urban developments. We believe this program will move the industry forward, increase collaboration and create greater awareness of the opportunities to build healthier urban places.”
The collaboration builds on findings from 224 senior professionals working across the system of urban development, including industry. The data revealed that current thinking around urban development and how it is practiced is not well suited to respond to complex issues such as climate change and health crises. Few interviewees felt that they have sufficient power to be able to bring health and health equity more centrally into their own professional practice.
Notes for Editors
About Oxford Properties Group
Oxford Properties Group (“Oxford”) is a leading global real estate investor, developer and manager. Established in 1960, Oxford and its portfolio companies manage approximately C$85 billion of assets across four continents on behalf of their investment partners. Oxford is owned by OMERS, the Canadian defined benefit pension plan for Ontario’s municipal employees.
Oxford’s owned portfolio encompasses logistics, office, retail, multifamily residential, life sciences, credit and hotels in global gateway cities and high-growth hubs. A thematic investor with a committed source of capital, Oxford invests in properties, portfolios, development sites, debt, securities and real estate businesses across the risk-reward spectrum. Together with its portfolio companies, Oxford is one of the world’s most active developers with over 70 projects currently underway globally across all major asset classes.
For more information on Oxford, visit www.oxfordproperties.com
About TRUUD
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. The TRUUD consortium includes the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Reading, Manchester, Stirling and the University of the West of England across disciplines of public health, law, psychology, management, systems engineering, environmental and health economics, real estate, planning, urban development, policy and public involvement.
TRUUD has created an economic valuation model – Health Appraisal of Urban Systems, (‘HAUS’) – that allows developers or planners to consider and adjust a range of health factors. HAUS provides unit costs for more than 70 health outcomes, separated so that they can be attributed across multiple agencies from a societal perspective.
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.
