Spatial Plans as a Critical Intervention in Improving Population Health. A Discourse Arising from a Health Census Review of the State of Current Local Planning Policy in England

Planning decisions are dependent on the strength of regulatory instruments. The local plan is a public policy document informing decisions on land-use developments that can have impact on health of future populations. The article reports on a census review of local plans (n = 346) in England. Using content analysis, we found limited resilience with only 126 (36.4%) have links to local health needs, 101 (29.2%) have links to local health strategies, and 129 (37.5%) have a health policy. It is a novel approach to identify the current state of local policies as the starting point for projecting future health outcomes.