Urban regeneration as a tool for population health improvement

Abstract

Poor health is associated with poorer living circumstances (Ellaway et al., 2012) and there is therefore, a logical expectation that housing improvements and area regeneration in disadvantaged urban areas will improve health and reduce social inequalities in health (Kearns et al., 2009; WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health, 2008). Urban regeneration can thus be considered a public health intervention whereby improvements in health and wellbeing are stated as specific aims of regeneration strategies (Beck et al., 2010). Regeneration in most cases includes a range of activities that potentially may improve the interlinked realities of household, dwelling, community and neighbourhood environment in urban areas, thereby impacting on many of the social determinants of health (Dahlgren and Whitehead, 2007). However, to date the evidence that regeneration activities achieve these health benefits is limited or weak and any health effects are small (Jacobs et al., 2010). Evidence for long-term effects and the mechanisms by which different interventions or combinations of interventions might lead to positive health outcomes tend also to be rare (Jacobs et al., 2010). There are also concerns that regeneration activities may have unintended consequences of social disruption and displacement through gentrification (Lindberg et al., 2010). This paper therefore collects information and evidence of urban regeneration projects in a systematic way, both from historic urban regeneration projects and new modern models of regeneration, analysing and evaluating them from population health impact perspective. Paper concludes with recommendations of necessary future aims and methods to implement in urban regeneration projects as to achieve improvements in population health and health equality.