Influencing Urban Planning Policy: An Exploration from the Perspective of Public Health

Abstract

Human health requires the proper development and management of places through urban planning. This paper demonstrates how concerns for human health can become explicit matters for consideration in urban planning policy systems. Taking advantage of a rare opportunity to examine the policy development process, we combine a realist analysis, with a new institutional policy approach, to study a case of planning system review in Australia. These insights are useful for practitioners presented with similar opportunities for legislative influence. We also demonstrate the way this approach can be used in future research to develop rich insights into the forces at play in positioning health as explicitly related to urban governance.

人的健康要求通过城市规划进行恰当的场所开发和管理。本文说明人的健康是城市规划政 策系统中需要考虑的一件大事。我们难得地考察了政策制定的全过程，通过现实分析，采 用新的制度政策途径，研究澳大利亚规划制度评价的一个案例。文中的观点有助于面对相 似立法影响的实践者。作者还说明这种方法可在未来的研究中丰富认识，看到哪些力量把 健康置于城市治理相关的显要位置。

Keywords:

• Health
• built environment
• policy
• intersectoral action
• land use planning
• qualitative descriptive analysis

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the NSW Heart Foundation, and South Western Sydney and Northern Sydney Local Health Districts and by the National Health and Medical Research Council (APP1090644 and APP1078046).