Public Lecture - Healthier Cities, Healthier People

Join Professor Christopher Webster for this public lecture at the Alan Walters Building, Lecture Theatre 2 - Room G11 (R29 on the Campus Map) on Wednesday 6 November 2024. This is a hybrid event.  Register to attend via Zoom here

Healthier Cities, Healthier People – Can we re-unite urban planning practice with epidemiological research to foster active longevity by design?

Professor Christopher Webster, University of Hong Kong’s Urban Systems Institute (USI).

Event sponsored by AESOP (Association of European Schools of Planning)

The 21^st century has been labelled the urban century with more than half of the world’s population living in urbanised settings. The quality of these man-made environments has important implications for health and well-being and certain built environment characteristics have emerged as factors that impact a range of health risks – from mental illness to cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases.

This lecture presents advanced research approaches and selected findings from a decade of work analysing metropolitan urban form and conditions (noise, air pollution, green space, walkability) as factors affecting risks of both chronic and infectious diseases. Professor Webster illustrates the research power of interdisciplinary collaboration between epidemiologists, public health experts, medical professionals, urban geographers, planners, urban designers, landscape architects and spatial modelers.

It will provide inspiration and ideas on how researchers and practitioners can cooperate to shape healthier future places.  

Dr Austin Barber, Associate Professor in Urban and Regional Planning, University of Birmingham, Centre for Urban and Regional Planning and Sherine Edwards-Dodd – Public Health Lead for Birmingham City Council’s Built and Natural Environment Team will act as panellists and explore how practitioners can use such boundary spanning research to improve public health and quality of life in urban areas.

• 17:00 - 17:40 - Drinks reception in Alan Walters Foyer
• 17:40 - 19:00 - Lecture (G11)

This is a free event and open to all.