The locations of 10 ‘healthy new towns’ that will ‘test creative solutions for the health and care challenges of the 21st century’ have been announced.
Driven by NHS England, the initiative will deliver 76,000 new homes for around 170,000 residents.
The homes will be used as best practice for how the design of the built environment can be married with innovative health and care services.
Chief executive of NHS England, Simon Stevens, said: ‘The much-needed push to kick start affordable housing across England creates a golden opportunity for the NHS to help promote health and keep people independent.’
Professor Kevin Fenton, national director for health and wellbeing at Public Health England, which is supporting the programme, added: ‘Some of the UK’s most pressing health challenges – such as obesity, mental health issues, physical inactivity and the needs of an ageing population – can all be influenced by the quality of our built and natural environment.
‘The considerate design of spaces and places is critical to promote good health.
‘This innovative programme will inform our thinking and planning of everyday environments to improve health for generations to come.’
The locations were chosen from 114 bids submitted by local authorities, housing associations, developers and NHS organisations.
They include a former army barracks at Whitehill and Bordon in Hampshire where 3,350 homes will be built and Darlington’s eastern growth zone, earmarked for 2,500 homes.
The other healthy new towns are:
• Cranbrook, Devon
• Barking Riverside
• Whyndyke Farm in Fylde, Lancashire
• Halton Lea, Runcorn
• Bicester, Oxon
• Northstowe, Cambridgeshire
• Ebbsfleet Garden City, Kent
• Barton Park, Oxford