C O N T E X T 1 1 9 : M A Y 2 0 1 1 1 Cover: St Paul’s Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge, London. Public policy is increasingly focusing on how to make environments that promote physical activity and health: see page 15. (Photo: © Dragos Daniel Iliescu) Editorial Institute ofHistoricBuildingConservation No119May 2011 Healthy environments A healthy environment for debate Last year the word obesogenic waddled into our consciousness. Meaning ‘tending to make people obese’, the adjective has been used to describe certain types of development and streets which discourage walking. A concern for public health was where the placemaking movement began in the 19th century. Chris Pond and Graham Tite (pages 18 and 21) look back at some of those origins. In those days the problems included poor diet, lack of fresh air, poor hygiene and lack of medical attention, rather than obesity. Today the association of poor environments with low standards of health is as real as ever. Margaret Douglas (p15) and Craig Stirrat (p23) explore some of the issues. But it is too easy to conclude that the fact that unhealthy people tend to live in poor environments is evidence that it is the environment that is making them unhealthy. It may be, rather, that unhealthy people live in poor environments because, being unhealthy, they can not earn enough to live somewhere pleasant. Or it may be that they have low standards of education, particularly in the art of being healthy, which is why they end up poor, unhealthy and living in places that no one would choose. The stories that Chris Pond and GrahamTite tell are an inspiring reminder of the days when the public health, town planning and conservation movements were discovering themselves. Poverty, disease and ill-health were not inevitable: the coordinated and determined efforts of enlightened people could, and did, make a difference. Will Holborow’s article on re-using historic hospitals (p25) reminds us of another set of changes in the way we think about health.The belief in the importance of isolation gave way to the fashion for care in the community (community being a useful euphemism). The change in health policy has led to opportunities for development. Sometimes these opportunities have had positive outcomes, creating attractive places in and around historic buildings. Too often, though, the opportunities have led to development in inappropriate places. After all, isolation hospitals tend to be isolated – the clue is in the name. Sometimes the fact that those former hospital ‘brownfield sites’ were actually luxuriantly green should have prompted us to let them stay that way. At a time when controversial health and planning reforms are under way, little is certain. Comfortable orthodoxies have been undermined but, like it or not, this is where we have to start from. Can localism be a basis for effective planning? Can we make the case for the value of conservation all over again? Can we regain the optimism that inspired our pioneering predecessors? At the very least it’s a healthy environment for debate. www.ihbc.org.uk Registered as a charity in England andWales number 1061593 and in Scotland number SC041945. Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered in England number 3333780. Registered Office: 3 Stafford Road,TunbridgeWells, Kent TN2 4QZ. Officers President Eddie Booth email [email protected] Chair Jo Evans email [email protected] Vice Chair Sheila Stones email [email protected] Secretary Richard Morrice email [email protected] Treasurer Michael Knights email [email protected] Membership Secretary vacant email [email protected] Education Secretary John Preston email [email protected] Publicity Secretary Doug Black email [email protected] Law & Practice Coordinator vacant email [email protected] Director Seán O’Reilly email [email protected] Projects Officer Fiona Newton email [email protected] Consultant Consultations Coordinator James Caird email [email protected] Membership Services Officer Joanna Theobald email [email protected] Administration Officer Lydia Porter email [email protected] Committee Chairs Policy Mike Brown email [email protected] Membership & Ethics (Acting) Richenda Codling email [email protected] Finance & Resources Richard Morrice email [email protected] Education John Preston email [email protected] Communications & Outreach Charles Strang email [email protected] Branch Officers North Geoff UnderwoodTel 0191 433 3435 NorthWest Kate Borland Tel 0778 0704726 Yorkshire Keith Knight Tel 01904 658482 West Midlands Charles Shapcott Tel 0121 7044312 East Midlands Roy Lewis Tel 01636 619335 South Julia Foster Tel 01296 585888 SouthWest JamesWebbTel 01202 732849 East Anglia Phil Godwin Tel 01263 516131 South East David Kincaid Tel 01227 862185 London David McDonald Tel 020 7361 3352 Scotland Stuart Eydmann Tel 01506 775279 Wales Nathan Blanchard Tel 01492 583443 Northern Ireland Colin Hatrick Tel 028 9064 1126 Republic of Ireland Cormac O’Sullivan Tel 00353 5677 62907 Business Office Jubilee House, High Street, Tisbury, Wiltshire SP3 6HA England Tel 01747 873133 Fax 01747 871718 email [email protected] Briefing 2 Out of Context 4 Letters 5 Professional prospects Bob Kindred 6 Periodically 8 The writer’s voice 11 Conference report: Understanding significance Keith Parsons 12 Caring for the building and the client Christopher Catling 13 Realising good places for health Margaret Douglas 15 A good start in life Chris Pond and Graham Tite 18 A fruitful day in the country Chris Pond 21 Health inequalities in the built environment Craig Stirrat 23 Re-using historic hospitals Will Holborow 25 Restoring a house in France Peter Fisher 28 Refrigeration on ice Liz Humble 31 Architecturally speaking 34 Notes from the chair 36 Director’s cut 38 Vox pop 39 Book reviews 41 Products and services 45 Advertisers index 48
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