Planning Health and Well Being

Overview

EVP1001 introduces students to the origins of Planning in the United Kingdom. It does this by beginning in the nineteenth century and considering its Public Health origins. By looking at key figures and themes in the inception of the Planning Movement the module engages the student with the historiography of the philosophies, concepts and concerns of Planning, Health and Well-Being and the evolution of the principles of the Planning profession up to the present day. Here models of Health, Well-Being and the role of the State and the individual are drawn on through examples of planning policy. Through interactive lectures, seminars and reading the module takes students through the evolving political, economic, social and environmental contexts of planning in the UK and beyond, the nexus between town and country planning, key planning legislation and interactions with Health and Well-Being. Here key concepts including structure, agency, class, gender, age, ethnicity and equality are drawn on. Thus the development of the UK Planning system will be seen to evolve from its Public Health origins and its institutions engage in both individualistic and integrative ways. Students will thus have the opportunity to debate the role of planning in creating successful and strong economies and sustainable urban and rural environments through engagement in weekly lectures and seminars.

Learning Objectives

At the end of the module a successful student will:

1) Have knowledge of the historiography of the Public Health concerns underpinning the inception of the Planning Movement in the United Kingdom and the enduring impacts on the current planning landscape.
2) Be able to engage with academic approaches to health and well-being and to consider the impacts on the evolution of the planning profession, institutions and practice within a Spatial Planning framework.
3) Be able to consider the connections between urban and rural and health and well-being through engagement with key concepts of The State, the individual, class, ethnicity, aging and gender.
4) Have developed understanding of the impacts of evolving thinking on Planning, Health and Well-Being to land-use planning, space and place and issues of community, poverty, social exclusion and diversity.

Additionally successful students will:

- Understand the basic definitions related to planning and how these are applied to different spatial circumstances.
- Understand the origins of planning in the United Kingdom in general and Northern Ireland specifically.
- Explain and demonstrate how spatial planning operates within the context of institutional and legal frameworks.
- Appreciate the inter-related economic, social, political and environmental dimensions to the use and management of land, looking in particular at the connections between planning, health and well-being.
- Understand the operation of the planning system and the competencies and values deployed by planners in professional practice.
- Appreciate the role of professional planners in a range of organisational and policy settings.
- Develop research skills in the assembly, analysis and presentation of information from a wide range of sources; and generate integrated and well substantiated responses to spatial planning challenges.

Skills

- Problem solving skills, especially in undertaking the case study-based assignments;
- Analytical skills and understanding of the policy context within which planning is located; and
- Spatial awareness of the interrelated economic, social, environmental and political dimensions to the use and management of land.
- Discussion and debating skills in lectures and seminars
- Academic writing skills in essays and project
- Confident in speaking in a range of settings i.e. lectures/seminars/group work/one-to one.

Assessment

Students must pass all assessment components.