"Urban renewal can stimulate healthy behaviours" by Anton Kunst, in the framework of the final conference of the European research project SOPHIE. 29th September 2015, Brussels

1. Urban renewal can stimulate
healthy behaviours
Anton Kunst
Department Public Health
AMC, University of Amsterdam
a.kunst@amc.uva.nl
Brussels,
29 September 2015

2. Quality of
housing
Quality of
public areas
Opportunity
for work,
education
Green
space,
recreation
Safety,
social
disorder
Social
cohesion,
networks
The environment and health: multiple associations

3. Investing in environment = investing in health?
• Need for evaluation of
– changes in environment
– urban renewal policies
• E.g. Netherlands, 40-District Approach
– 2008 onwards
– 5 to 10 billion euro
– improved environment & socioeconomic

4. Quantifying impact:
quasi-experimental evaluation of physical activity

5. How could physical activity be influenced?
Realist review of literature

6. How could safety be improved?
Realist evaluation of a program in Arnhem
mechanism outcome
District residents
mechanism outcome
Problem households
mechanism outcome
Organisations
Coordinated
partnership
approach
Coordination
of partners’
actions
Reduce
reaons for
nuisance
Less
neighbour
nuisance
Better
perceived
area safety
Efficient
care-and-
enforcement
approach
Perceived
social
control

7. Lessons learned
• Increasing evidence that improving neighbourhoods
contributes to improving health
• Question 1: what are the precise gains?
- promising for physical activity
• Question 2: how can these gains be achieved?
- safe and attractive environments

8. Title
• Text