Urban Update 18 July 2025

News and Research

Humans, Health, Society

The NHS 10 Year Health Plan - summarised for built environment professionals
By Tony Beaman 

The 10 Year Health Plan sets out the Government’s plan for the NHS in England and is part of Government’s health mission. The plan is based on ‘three shifts’ in the way that health and care services are provided; hospital to community; analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention.

Hospital to community aims to deliver more care on people’s doorsteps and in their homes, and sickness to prevention seeks to create a healthier country through cross-societal action.

There are a number of actions in the plan which link to urban design thinking, and recognise the role that the environment has in enabling healthy activities:

The plan acknowledges that our health is shaped by the places we live and the wider social determinants

• There is a focus on ‘Neighbourhood health’ which is about bringing care closer to people’s homes (a principle which underpins 15-minute cities and compact cities).
• Proposals to better use the existing NHS estate and deliver more services on high-streets and out of town shopping centres.
• References the National Planning Policy Framework powers which can be used to block new fast-food outlets near schools.
• Tackling obesity and promoting physical activity – working with the DCMS on ‘place-based approach to physical activity’.
• Active travel – partnering with Active Travel England, local authorities and other government departments to identify simple changes that can substantially boost active travel rates to help spread this best practice and reduce physical inactivity.
• Improving peoples homes - The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and Department of Health and Social Care to work together to “help ensure more health-vulnerable households get the help they need to improve their homes”.

See full summary with further extracts >>>>
 

Energy and Climate Change

 
£100 million Derby heat network due to commence in 2016 >>>>
The scheme involves 28km of pipes transporting waste heat recovered using heat pumps from local businesses.
 
The impact of increasing urban surface albedo on outdoor air and surface temperatures during summer in newly developed areas - Scientific Reports
This study explored how making roads lighter (increasing their albedo) can reduce the heating of residential areas, without changing buildings or adding shade.

By changing road pavement albedo from dark (0.12) to light (0.50), surface temperatures dropped by almost 13°C during peak sun hours. This also led to a noticeable reduction in air temperature, up to nearly 2°C during the day.

Albedo is a measure of how much sunlight (or other electromagnetic radiation) a surface or body reflects. It is expressed as a fraction or a percentage of the incident late on a scale from 0 to 1 (or 0% to 100%).
    High albedo: Fresh snow (up to 0.85 or 85% of light is reflected), ice, bright clouds.
    Low albedo: Open ocean (below 0.1 or under 10% of light is reflected ... more than 90 percent is absorbed), forests, asphalt, dark soil.
 

St Martin's Lane, London. A thermal infra-red false colour image taken when the air temperature was around 30 centigrade, shows the black bitmac road surface at 44 centigrade.  This street is shaded to the east and west by tall buildings, without which the road surface temperature would have been substantially hotter. 
 

Built Environment 

 
Why urban planners need to be aware of the growing battleground over right to light >>>>
This article warns that planning policies can be less restrictive than legal precedents and subsequent court judgements.  It suggests that “Right of Light” reports should be sought before planning applications are submitted.
 
Mapping with Intent: Feminist city planning >>>>
Edinburgh has followed Glasgow in passing motions to promote feminist urban planning, aiming to challenge the idea that city design is gender-neutral and address the disadvantages faced by marginalized genders.  This concept envisions cities where all genders, especially women, have inclusive and safe access to essential services like healthcare, transport, and childcare. It also considers the lack of representation of women in public monuments.

New report imagines a different future for central business districts as party zones  >>>>
Based on cultural research and collaborative storytelling, the report by Bompass and Parr  predicts six key trends shaping future nightlife:

• Architectures of Vice: Cities will integrate nightlife into urban regeneration, transforming empty spaces into nocturnal playgrounds.
• Aging Disgracefully: Older generations will reclaim nightlife, merging retirement homes with clubs and fostering cross-generational connections.
• Luxuriating the Night: Nights out will offer more cerebral experiences with sophisticated food and drink.
• Play on the Astral Plane: Socializing, dating, and partying will extend into shared lucid dreams, making sleep a new social frontier.
• I'm Here for the Queues and the Loos: Unexpected social interactions in queues, smoking areas, and bathrooms will become a highlight of nightlife.
• Rave New World: Grassroots and regional scenes will revive dancefloors as hubs for radical joy, self-expression, and social change.

Humans, Health, Society

 
Managing and navigating Manchester's Privately Owned Public Spaces: Understanding publicness - Journal of Urban Management
Publicly Owned Private Spaces (POPS) in the UK are often seen negatively, viewed as exclusive due to private property laws that favour owners over public rights.  Research shows POPS managers (custodians) actively try to maintain public qualities such as accessibility, spontaneity, sociability, and inclusivity. However, their efforts are often limited by money and market pressures.  "Publicness" in POPS is fluid, and not a simple black-and-white issue.  The paper emphasises the importance of daily place management, safety, and amenities, which are often overlooked. It comments the importance of local, place-based partnerships between managers, developers and the public, to define and maintain common standards for public access.
 
Sustainable City Stories – A Short Film Reflecting on Sustainability in Woolwich, London as Observed Walking by an Intergenerational Group of Residents - Sociological Research Online
The "Sustainable City Stories" project, funded by the University of Greenwich, aimed to explore local residents' understanding of "sustainability" in Woolwich through intergenerational walking activities and creative expression.  Five main themes emerged: differing interpretations of "sustainability," the need for more green spaces in Woolwich, the contrast between individual and government action, feelings of safety in Woolwich, and the role of local history in sustainability.  Despite its problems, people cherished being part of the Woolwich.
View the film >>>>   11 minutes
 
Nostalgia-on-sea: The seaside is more likely to make us nostalgic than green places. A new psychology study explores why…. Short article  >>>>  Full paper >>>>
A University of Cambridge study has found that coastal, river, and lakeside locations account for over a quarter of nostalgic places for UK residents (26%) and a fifth for US residents (20%). This rises to around a third when lakes and rivers are included.

Researchers expected "green" places (forests, mountains) to be more nostalgic, but "blue" environments emerged as the hallmark feature, suggesting they offer unique psychological benefits owing to visual properties like brightness, and colour saturation.

Over one-fifth of nostalgic places were urban, likely because most people live in cities. However, urban places are more often deemed "ordinary" unless they involve memorable, unique experiences like holidays.

The study reaffirms that nostalgia is a positive psychological resource, helping people to feel more connected, to find meaning, boost self-esteem, and enhance authenticity

Implications for Design & Conservation: Researchers suggest prioritizing access to "blue" and natural landscapes in urban planning and using nostalgia to identify locally cherished landmarks for preservation, emphasizing community involvement in design decisions.
NB the full paper uses psychological terms; the short article contains flat assertions.
 
Study on the restorative benefits of four behavioural patterns of urban landscape forests under seasonal change - Scientific Reports
This study explored how different activities in urban deciduous forests affect well-being, focusing on common behaviours in a ginkgo forest in Chengdu, China, with 128 participants.

• Physiological Benefits: Walking and lying down significantly reduced blood pressure and heart rate.
• Brain Activity: Alpha (α) and beta (β) wave activity increased significantly during sitting and walking, with sitting showing the highest α wave activity (associated with a relaxed, calm and awake state) and walking having higher β wave activity, characteristic of an alert, active, and focused mental state.
• Mood Improvement: All tested activities (walking, sitting, lying, talking) significantly improved mood, reducing tension-anxiety.
• Optimal Activity: Overall, walking provided the greatest health benefits in these urban forests, followed by sitting, lying down, and talking.

The findings strongly support the creation of more urban green spaces and advocate for features such as:

• Improved accessibility to green areas.
• Adding more walking trails.
• Implementing healthy and smart interactive features in new parks to enhance user experience and health benefits.
• Installing information boards about the value of trees to boost the perceived benefit of these spaces.

Experiences in Nature and Benefits on Emerging Adult Wellbeing: A Qualitative Systematic Review - Emerging Adulthood
This review examines how Early Adults (EAs) (around 18-30 years old) experience nature and how it impacts their well-being, a demographic often overlooked in this research area.  The study advocates: increased accessibility and thoughtful design of green spaces (e.g., trails, picnic areas, biodiversity) to cater for the needs of Early Adults, and for public health campaigns encouraging family-based nature activities.
 

Natural Environment 

 
Greenspaces can reduce the level of airborne microplastic contamination in urban environments: Evidence from a lichen biomonitoring study - Environmental Research
This study used lichen to investigate airborne microplastic (MP) contamination in urban environments in Pisa, Italy.
Microplastics (fragments, fibres, and tyre wear particles) were found across all sampled locations, including rural areas, urban parks, and parking lots.
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was the most common plastic – it is used in bottles, packaging, ropes etc.
 The study claims that urban greenspace can provide buffering against microplastics.
 
 

Politics, Philosophy, Economics, History

 
Global Finance vs Local Needs and Interests -  Berlin’s housing policy and financial investors - European Urban and Regional Studies
This paper examines the complex relationship between local housing policies and global corporate landlords in Berlin.  The research identifies five distinct phases in Berlin where the relationship between financialized housing investors and the local government has been unstable. It concludes that no steady partnerships have formed between them. This instability is due to both local governments and financial investors operating under complex and often conflicting goals.

Global corporate landlords operate under conflicting pressures.  Their stock market valuations depend on global financial trends, but they also need to maximize assets and revenue locally, making them vulnerable to rent laws and planning regulations. Corporate landlords in Berlin have proven unreliable partners for local politicians. Their cooperation often only happens under pressure and quickly breaks down when global financial conditions change.

For politicians, cooperation with large investors can offer political benefits, these are often outweighed by the investors' unreliability and superior resources (e.g., large legal teams), creating an imbalance of power. Corporate landlords' unpopularity as "rent sharks" also makes collaborating with them a political risk in elections.
 
The relative importance of greening in attracting gentrifiers to urban Vancouver and suburban Calgary neighbourhoods - Urban Studies
This study investigates green gentrification, where greening a neighbourhood will lead to the displacement of marginalized residents by higher-income households. It tests whether greenness attracts these households and expands the focus beyond urban areas to include suburbs.
Key findings:

• Green Factors' Importance: In gentrified areas of Vancouver (urban) and Calgary (suburban), greenness and proximity to green space were as important in influencing moving choice as non-green factors such as safety, scenic views, and neighbourhood ambience.
• Proximity vs. Overall Greenness: closeness to green spaces was more influential than a neighbourhood's overall greenness
• Suburban vs. Urban Preferences: While green factors were valued similarly across all neighbourhoods, private green space was more important to people in suburban areas.
• Implications:
  • Green factors are not the sole drivers for high-income households moving into gentrifying areas.
  • Green gentrification research needs to consider how preferences for green spaces interact with other preferences and constraints in residential choices.
  • The scope of green gentrification research should expand beyond dense urban environments to understand its impact on exclusion and displacement in suburbs as well.

 
Making sense of community-led place-based research - Environment and Planning F
The UK's main research funding body is increasing investment in place-based research, with nine community research networks with up to £1million each over five years, with the aim of increasing public engagement in research and boosting public involvement.
 
Quality of scientific papers questioned as academics ‘overwhelmed’ by the millions published >>>>