Salus journal

Healthy Planet. Healthy People.

Cities / Healthy Cities

Healthy City Design 2018

This is how to design for isolation and loneliness in our communities

By Harry Knibb 28 Jan 2019 0

This talk aims to set out the main built environment causes of loneliness and isolation and provide an overview of best-practice solutions developed from a global research programme.



Abstract

Social isolation can be as damaging to our health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and being lonely can increase our chances of mortality by 26 per cent.

With 9 million people reportedly suffering from loneliness in the UK – an increase of 200,000 people since the 1950s – this epidemic is impacting our community cohesion. Economically, the impacts are equally significant with three out of four GPs reporting that between one and five patients a day visit because they are lonely, and estimates place the burden of loneliness on private-sector employers at over £2 billion a year.

This paper aims to set out the main built environment causes of loneliness and isolation – such as density, safety, finance, accessibility, mobility, and urban scale – and to provide an overview of best-practice solutions developed from a global research programme.

In order to clarify the issues and identify solutions, we undertook primary and secondary research during the course of 2017–2018. Primary research included a quantitative survey of 1000 Londoners addressing issues of trust and social cohesion; qualitative semi-structured interviews of community development managers active on large regeneration sites in London; and a global survey of our own employees to establish a database of best practice solutions from leading cities. Secondary sources used to develop a literature review included academic articles, industry and third-sector sources, and media articles. The research sought to establish:

  • a clear definition of what we mean by social isolation and loneliness;
  • who are at most risk of being affected by isolation and loneliness;
  • why people suffer from isolation and loneliness; and
  • the impacts of isolation and loneliness?

The result is a comprehensive overview of the terms and their components, the development of a framework of drivers for why people are isolated and/or lonely, a synthesis of the literature around the impacts of isolation and loneliness, and case study solutions showing how cities are addressing these concerns across the globe.

Organisations involved