Project title: Understanding health-focussed planning policy clusters: The case of takeaway food outlet regulation in the Northeast.
Dr Meadhbh Maguire MRTPI will investigate how planning policies aimed at improving public health spread between local authorities in England. Dr Maguire is a Senior Policy Planner currently on secondment from Aberdeenshire Council and working part time with NESTA and Public Health Scotland. She will carry out this project as an independent researcher.
Using the specific case of takeaway food outlet regulation, the project will examine planning-policy clustering in relation to health within a case study cluster of four local government areas within the Northeast of England. The research will include interviews with planning and public health professionals who have been involved in the adoption of takeaway management zones to examine the key drivers of these policies. It will explore how health-focussed planning policy clusters form, and the extent to which these are distinct from other non-health focussed planning policies.
Dr Maguire said: “There is growing recognition that the planning system should help to promote healthier environments and have effective tools to prevent the proliferation of health-harming products within the built environment. While local government areas with planning policies regulating takeaway food outlets are geographically widespread, those with health-focused planning policies specifically have been found to cluster together. By examining one such cluster in North East England, the research aims to identify the key drivers and barriers of health-focussed planning policy diffusion. The findings are likely to be of interest to planners and public health officials seeking to take forward health-focussed planning policies.”
To find out more about this research project you can contact Dr Maguire using the contact form below: