Strengthening the integration of health in urban spatial planning: Lessons learned from the development of a practical tool

The built environment is an important determinant of our health. Therefore, there is an urgent need for tools to support policy makers and spatial planners in creating a healthy built environment. We focused on the improvement of a tool (Check&Grow) designed for strengthening the integration of health in spatial planning, learning from two spatial development projects in Maastricht and Kerkrade (The Netherlands). Both projects concerned the development of an Integrated Child Center, including the surrounding area. We followed a three-step approach for tool improvement: i.e., joint problem diagnosis, co-designing improvements, and testing the improved tool by policy makers and urban designers. Through co-creation, two main improvements for the tool were proposed. The first improvement included recommendations regarding the collaboration process and the application of the tool. The second improvement included the proposal to connect health with other, more robust values in spatial planning such as climate adaptation. Finally, we recommend to further investigate the use of binding rules of thumb and standards for a healthy built environment.