New urban health tool highlights major societal benefits

A newly released tool, highlighted in two new research reports, offers investors a way to estimate the health gains from environmental improvements like cleaner air and increased active travel, supporting better-informed decision-making.

In collaboration with Federated Hermes Real Estate, the University of Bath and University of Reading in the TRUUD (Tackling Root Causes upstream of Unhealthy Urban Development) research consortium, examined two key placemaking projects, Paradise Birmingham and St Mary Le Port, Bristol, to assess the potential health benefits to their direct and wider communities as part of testing for a new health data valuation model. The two projects are being developed by MEPC, the specialist real estate development platform within Federated Hermes' Private Markets business.

TRUUD unites seven University of Bath academics from the Institute for Policy Research (IPR) and the Department of Economics, combining expertise from diverse disciplines to place health at the forefront.

The findings estimate that the planned development of these sites could result in a combined total of approximately £56 million in averted health costs, underscoring the transformative potential of urban regeneration to deliver socially and environmentally beneficial outcomes. This could be up to £21 million more than the minimum expected under Local Plans for both areas.

Dr. Eleanor Eaton from the Department of Economics at the University of Bath applied their Health Appraisal of Urban Systems model (HAUS) to consider the sites for aspects that could benefit or harm health such as walking routes, cycle facilities, public transport, road collisions, air quality, noise, fear of crime, green and blue spaces, tree cover, overheating risks and access to quality food.

HAUS allows investors, developers and planners to consider and adjust a range of built environment health factors. The resulting reports provide estimates of costs attributable to conditions at different stages: before development, development compliant with the city's Local Plan, phases of building completion and an ideal scenario.

The reports found that for Paradise Birmingham, if the plans set out for Phase 3 of the development are realized, up to £43 million in health benefits for the area could be achieved (approximately £20 million more than expected under the Local Plan). This is largely driven by a shift to more active forms of travel, improved opportunities for walking and feelings of security.

The report also showed that further improvements in the plans to increase green space, mitigations for noise and air pollution and the removal or downgrading of nearby major roads could provide an ideal scenario for future health benefits.

At St Mary Le Port, Bristol, researchers found that the total expected benefit from the current proposed redevelopment of the site could amount to almost £13 million in potential averted health costs, mostly through additional biodiversity and security features (nearly £1 million more than expected under the Local Plan). The report notes that further improvements for the ideal scenario could reduce mortality through increases to biodiversity, but this was more uncertain in modeling.

Kathy Pain, Professor of Real Estate Development at the University of Reading Henley Business School and lead for TRUUD's real estate intervention said, "We wanted to know how our new model, HAUS, could inform real estate investors about the long-term health of communities through their asset management development decisions. Our robust new data fills an important gap to spearhead a change of approach for real estate investments.

"I hope that the real estate investment community look at these examples and investigate how they can apply similar thinking to their own projects. Directing capital towards urban settings where health is a more significant part of decision making will help reduce spatial inequalities. We are very grateful for the access to Federated Hermes sites and their teams' expertise.

"Our research evaluation is examining the expected changes to the firm's decision-making, the potential for the research to inform strategy across its asset portfolios and application in financial appraisal."

Chris Taylor, Chairman of Real Estate at Federated Hermes, added, "We believe that a responsible investment approach is essential to delivering successful projects while enhancing the long-term value for our clients. Within the built environment, our placemaking projects have delivered tangible societal and environmental outcomes.

"Working together with academics and the public sector, TRUUD is an outstanding case study in how collaboration and partnership between private and public sectors can deliver an enhanced quality of life for all. By applying the HAUS model, we now have data-backed evidence to demonstrate that thoughtful, human-centric design drives lasting value creation for the people interacting with the place, wider society, and our investors. We are honored to partner with TRUUD on this pioneering initiative, which sets a powerful precedent for how the real estate sector can integrate and prioritize health into investment decision making."

The HAUS model has been developed by academics at the University of Bath as part of the TRUUD program and is due to be adopted in the government's appraisal guidance later this year.

Provided by University of Bath