Planning for well-being: a critical perspective on embedding well-being in community-led planning processes

Jones, Matthew and Spence, Amanda (2019) Planning for well-being: a critical perspective on embedding well-being in community-led planning processes. In: Designing for Health & Wellbeing. The Interdisciplinary Built Environment . Vernon Press, Delaware, USA, pp. 137-154. ISBN 1-62273-512-9

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Abstract

The Welsh Government’s Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 is a unique piece of legislation which embeds healthy and sustainable development into Wales’ legislative framework. It commits 44 public bodies to improving social, economic, cultural and environmental well-being. The Future Generations Act introduces seven well-being goals and five ‘ways of working’, creating a shared vision for these public bodies to work towards. Alongside this top-down approach, there is an emerging intent to increase engagement of local people and to support individuals and communities in sustaining and improving the quality of their health and well-being. However, at present the implementation of well-being agenda at community level is limited. This paper examines an innovative approach to bridge this gap and engage local people in considering the health and well-being of their communities, now and into the future.

The Shape My Town community-led planning tool is designed to increase opportunities for local people to have a voice in the planning process through the creation of community-led Place Plans. Seen as a form of asset-based community development, the tool encourages communities to assess their place through a series of interlinked themes to build evidence for change. In this paper, the seven goals and five ways of working embedded in the Well-being Act are mapped against the tool before a case study of its implementation is presented. The sense of increased self-determination the process facilitates is linked to an increased sense of well-being, purpose and community cohesion (Deci and Ryan, 1985). However, questions are raised about the capacity of communities to deliver effective long-term change and the capacity of overburdened, under-resourced local authorities to help deliver on these aspirations.

Item Type:	Book Section
Dates:	Date Event December 2019 Published
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Health, wellbeing, planning, community-led planning, Wales
Subjects:	CAH13 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01-01 - architecture CAH13 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01-04 - planning (urban, rural and regional)
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts, Design and Media > College of Architecture
Depositing User:	Matthew Jones
Date Deposited:	14 Jun 2019 13:25
Last Modified:	12 Jan 2022 13:28
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/7571