News from PHR

Examining the longer-term impact of London's Olympic Park

08 August 2012

Urban regeneration, good employment prospects, and sustainable places and communities have been a driving factor in the development of London's Olympic Park.

A NIHR Public Health Research (PHR) Programme-funded project is addressing a variety of research questions which relate to building of the park, by looking at its longer-term impact on 11–13 year olds from a variety of health, socio-economic and socio-environmental factors. These include education, diet, obesity, alcohol use and social cohesion.

Informed by the Marmot Review of Health Inequalities (www.instituteofhealthequity.org) the project, 'Evaluating the impact of urban regeneration on young people and their families' is examining how various factors have, and will, affect those within the 7,000-acre area in Stratford and the London Borough of Newham in East London – both scheduled for regeneration, with Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Barking and Dagenham – where no comparable regeneration has been planned. The project aims to answer what is the impact of urban regeneration on the social determinants of health (employment), health behaviours (physical activity) and health outcomes (mental health and wellbeing) of adolescents and their parents.

Professor Steven Cummins, who is leading the study at Queen Mary, University of London, was recently interviewed in BBC News television's (Friday, 20 July 2012) lead up to the Olympics. Asked about his research, Professor Cummins alluded to the opportunities the largest urban regeneration project in Europe provided for his research team, their analysis, and the potential impact of findings in an evaluation activity that few other research projects have thus far addressed. Read more about the project here www.phr.nihr.ac.uk/funded_projects/09_3005_09.asp