Designing Future Cities for Wellbeing

Designing Future Cities for Wellbeing draws on original research that brings together dimensions of cities we know have a bearing on our health and wellbeing – including transportation, housing, energy, and foodways – and illustrates the role of design in delivering cities in the future that can enhance our health and wellbeing. It aims to demonstrate that cities are a complex interplay of these various dimensions that both shape and are shaped by existing and emerging city structures, governance, design, and planning. Explaining how to consider these interconnecting dimensions in the way in which professionals and citizens think about and design the city for future generations’ health and wellbeing, therefore, is key. The chapters draw on UK case and research examples and make comparison to international cities and examples.

This book will be of great interest to researchers and students in planning, public policy, public health, and design.

Christopher T. Boyko is a 50th Anniversary Lecturer in Design at Lancaster University. He explores critical connections between urban design and behaviour, informing both design practice and policy. He has undertaken research on the relationship between wellbeing, sharing, and neighbourhoods for the Liveable Cities project; urban density and decision-making processes on Urban Futures; and urban design decision-making process and sustainability for VivaCity2020. He is currently working on the Remembering Resistance project, focussing on activism and public space.

Rachel Cooper OBE is Distinguished Professor of Design Management and Policy at Lancaster University. She was a Lead Expert for the UK Government Foresight programme on the Future of Cities, and the Academy of Medical Sciences addressing ‘the health of the public 2040’. She is now on the Expert Steering Group for the UK Partnership for Prevention Research and a UK representative on the ICSU Scientific Committee for Health and Wellbeing in the Changing Urban Environment.

Nick Dunn is Professor of Urban Design and Executive Director of Imagination, the design research lab at Lancaster University, UK. He is Senior Fellow at the Institute for Social Futures, exploring new ways to envision and analyse the futures of people, places, and planet. He has authored numerous books, journal articles, and commissioned reports. Nick's expertise on cities, design, futures, and health has led to curated exhibitions and keynotes around the world.