Designing a Healthier Region Gayle Bursey Director, Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention, Peel Public Health 1
Walking 29 minutes daily reduces the risk of death by all causes by 22% 2
Countries with more walking , cycling and transit have less obesity 3
The Brutal Truth 4
The Brutal Truth Given Peel’s Growth: • Widening existing roads and creating new ones will not meet travel demand • Shift in transport mode share to public active transit must occur to keep goods and people flowing 5
Direction by Regional Council In October 2008, Regional Council directed Health and Planning staff to develop policies on the relationship between health and the built environment for the Region’s Official Plan, with recommendations to create more health - promoting communities. Approved Regional Official Plan Amendments include: The Region will prepare an assessment tool to evaluate the public health impacts of development, jointly with the area municipalities (7.9.2.9) The Region may require health impact studies as part of a complete development application to amend the Regional Official Plan (7.3.6.2.2) 6
Healthy Development Index 2009 Earlier collaborations led to mostly narrative comments on development plans. Peel Public Health began work on the development of an evidence- informed tool : Healthy Development Index (HDI) – Collaboration with St. Michael’s Hospital researchers – Identifies aspects of the built environment that have the greatest impact on physical activity – Evidence-based quantitative tool for evaluating development applications 7
Healthy Development Index A framework to provide consistent, quantifiable standards to inform planning decisions The HDI consists of seven elements known to be associated with health: • Density • Proximity to services and transit • Land use mix • Street connectivity • Road network and sidewalk characteristics • Parking • Aesthetics and human scale These elements are further broken down into measures 8
Healthy Development Index 9
Health Background Study Framework 2011 Identified a need to use tools congruent with Planning profession (i.e. similar to existing background studies mandated by Ontario’s Planning Act); therefore, developed the: Health Background Study (HBS) – Refined elements and measures – Terms of Reference – Visually-appealing user guide that aids implementation – Healthy Canada by Design project 10
Health Background Study Framework Rationale Description of the Core Element and why it is important from a community health perspective. Objective Statement of desired development objective. Standards Minimum development standards to be achieved by the proposed development. Key Questions List of key questions that should be considered in the planning and preparation of the development. Reporting/Content Requirements Description of the minimum reporting. 11
Municipal Resolutions Mississauga “Reference the HDI and HBS framework for input into future studies…and that all planning reports contain a reference to the health impacts of the application” Brampton “Use the HDI as a framework as well as the HBS framework and consult at the discretion of city staff with Peel Public Health for future transportation studies, urban design guideline studies, community improvement plans, block plans, and future community planning studies” Caledon “Reference the HDI in settlement area expansion studies, transportation studies, community improvement plans, and planning of roads, trails and parks” 12
Brampton New Sustainability and Health Guidelines 13
Caledon & Mississauga Retro-fit existing development 14
Caledon East Community Improvement Plans 15
Proposed Amendments • The proposed amendments allow public health to: – Strengthen its position in support of municipalities on shared goals , – Ensure consistent application and specificity in requirements, and – Support municipalities to be locally responsive in their decision making. 16
Public Health’s Role Call Support & Defend Policy to Action Position Formation 17
Opportunities with the Health ROPA Strengthening Regional Official Plan policies allow for: - Consistent use - Meets the compact design agenda - Defendable 18
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