Consideration of urban green space in impact assessments for health. Issue 1 (2nd January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fischer, Thomas B.; Jha-Thakur, Urmila; Fawcett, Peter; Clement, Sarah; Hayes, Samuel; Nowacki, Julia
• Is Part Of: Impact assessment and project appraisal. Volume 36:Issue 1(2018)
• Page Start: 32
• Page End: 44
• Publication Date: 2018-01-02
• Subjects: Health -- urban green space -- strategic environmental assessment -- environmental impact assessment -- health impact assessment; 333.714
• DOI: 10.1080/14615517.2017.1364021
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1461-5517

Abstract

Abstract: This paper explores how health aspects connected with the planning of urban green space are currently supported through two types of impact assessments: health impact assessment (HIA) and environmental assessment, including strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of policies, plans and programmes and environmental impact assessment (EIA) of projects. Seven HIAs and five EIAs/SEAs from the UK, the US, the Netherlands, Austria and Germany are reviewed, using an analytical framework designed on the basis of a literature review. An important finding is that whilst all HIAs follow a problem-/objectives-driven approach, designing guidelines for potential future projects, all EIAs/SEAs use an impact-driven approach, focusing on the impacts of planned and concrete action. HIAs therefore approach policy, plan, programme and project-making exercises from the outside, making suggestions to those working on them to consider certain aspects in the future, rather than working with them on improving things within a decision-making process, as is usually is usually the case with EIAs/SEAs.