Urban Neighbourhoods: Health and Wellbeing

The project carried out a rigorous mapping of spatial, social, economic and health parameters of two highly complex and diverse London boroughs and compared them to similar neighbourhoods in other UK cities with a view to establishing links between the built environment, demographic trends and the health and wellbeing of urban residents.

Urban Neighbourhoods: Health and Wellbeing is a research project designed to deepen and expand knowledge of the links between urban space and urban health. The focus was to broaden the understanding of what constitutes the ‘built environment’ and how it can be broken down into distinct, measurable components – such as density, accessibility, connectivity, integration – which can be objectively tested against specific health outcomes.

The study offered a preliminary categorisation of spatial characteristics that, in addition to the well-understood dynamics of social determinants of urban health, either enhance or exacerbate the quality and experience of everyday life in the inner-city. The ultimate objective was to assist policymakers in identifying spatial variations that can lead to concrete polices and spatial interventions which can make a difference to the health and wellbeing of existing and future residents of the London Boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth.

The project developed a comparative ‘spatial compendium’, building on LSE Cities’ established methodology of mapping spatial and social indicators across a small sample of inner-city areas outside London that are comparable in size, spatial character and diversity to Southwark and Lambeth.