The design of our neighbourhoods, housing, transportation systems, parks, natural environments, and food systems affects the health of our communities. For over a decade, LEES+Associates has worked with the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) on a number of projects around Healthy Built Environments, including the HBE Toolkit that provides an overview of plans, policies, and research relating to health and the built environment.

Last year, we helped kick off an update to this toolkit to incorporate how climate change impacts such as flooding, drought, wildfires and smoke, and extreme heat and cold affect communities. We researched policies and evidence from different levels of government and NGOs to help PHSA frame key research questions and methods. LEES’ expertise in planning and policy, as evidenced by their work on the HBE toolkit, is one of the things that makes us unique.

What is the Healthy Built Environment Toolkit?
LEES worked with the PHSA on the Healthy Built Environment Linkages Toolkit that remains a go-to resource for understanding the connections between human health and the way we build our communities. The original toolkit focused on the five physical features of the built environment: neighbourhood design, transportation networks, natural environments, housing, and food systems. The Toolkit was developed together with over 50 stakeholders from health, planning, and policy to show evidence-based health research in a visually accessible way for a broad, interdisciplinary audience. The toolkit aims to provide health evidence to public health practitioners, planners, design professionals, and others involved in community design.

Since the original toolkit, there is an increasing body of evidence showing that the way we design our communities impacts health, and climate change is further exacerbating poor design. Improving our urban ecosystems, enhancing tree canopy in urban areas, creating active transportation connections, and ensuring people have access to green spaces are all critical to building resilience for climate change, as it brings more extreme heat and cold, as well as wildfire smoke.

The Toolkit provides easy-to-read graphics to quickly assess evidence-based information to aid in decision-making. For example, preserving and connecting environmentally sensitive areas impacts tree canopy and biodiversity, which can then lead to lower costs for air pollution removal and storm management while providing energy savings to homeowners and renters. There is also emerging research that shows that preservation of biodiversity likely supports healthier human communities.

If you are interested in learning more and keeping up with BC Provincial Health Authority’s work on the Healthy Built Environment, you can visit the HBE webpage for more resources or apply to join the Healthy Built Environment Alliance for regular updates and emerging research.