Hannah Poultney, GCHU Intern and BA Geography student, University of Oxford
Can the way we plan towns improve the health of the planet, ecosystems and ourselves? This question has shaped British planning for more than a century. From the garden city movement to the New Town Taskforce, new towns have always promised transformation that extends beyond providing housing. Their detailed plans sought to deliver social reform, economic revitalisation, and healthier ways of living. With the release of the New Towns Taskforce in September last year, it is worth examining the achievements of new towns and the lessons that can be learned from them.
Figure 1: Photo by Altaf Shah from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/aerial-photo-of-a-suburb-7797484/
A long tradition of planning for health
The roots of new town development in the UK lies in the garden city movement, initiated in the late nineteenth century. In Tomorrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform, Ebenezer Howard proposed a new form of settlement that responded to the pollution and overcrowding of industrial cities. Howard’s solution was to unite town and country creating places that were socially, physically and environmentally “healthful”.
After the Second World War, this thinking influenced the development of Britain’s new towns. Between 1945 and 1995, 32 new towns were built, with many, such as Milton Keynes, explicitly marketed as healthier places to live.
Following a period in which inner-city regeneration was the focus of planning policy, new town development returned to the agenda through the announcement of the Eco Towns initiative in 2007. This reframed health through an environmental lens, focusing on achieving zero carbon status. More recently, the Healthy New Towns programme, launched in 2015, explored how neighbourhoods built from scratch could improve well-being, with a particular focus on obesity and dementia.
The New Towns Taskforce report, released in September 2025, signals another chapter in new town development. Whilst it responds to contemporary challenges, it echoes the original ethos of new towns, with the creation of healthy places remaining a key ambition.
How have new towns shaped health?
To understand how new towns influence health, it is useful to turn to Pineo’s THRIVE framework, which conceptualises healthy urbanism through two intersecting axes. One considers sustainability, inclusion and equity, the other considers scale, ranging from the planetary to the ecological, to the local. This second axis will be explored to reveal how different generations of new towns have approached health.
Figure 2: Pineo, 2022: 983
Planetary scale: the climate change challenge
At the planetary scale, the key challenge is climate change. Transport plays a central role, with cars accounting for 17% of the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions. As such, promoting alternatives is essential for planetary health.
The eco-town initiative placed a strong emphasis on sustainable transport, whilst public transport was clearly factored into the locations selected by the New Towns Taskforce.Theneed to develop public transport in Heyford Park was highlighted, whilst existing public transport links were identified as an advantage to Crews Hill location. Also, they recognise need for “ambitious density” to support public transport. This reflects an important lesson learned from post-war new towns.
Many post-war new towns prioritised green space. This came at the expense of density, with it being too low to support efficient public transport. Densities range from 30 to 50 people per hectare, with some new towns such as Harlow, falling far below this. In contrast, historically evolved towns reached densities of 100 to 200 people per hectare. This disparity has contributed to some new towns being poorly-served by public transport.
Despite this, Howard’s original vision consisted of a ‘social city’, in which towns were connected by a rail network. The influence of modernist planning post-World War II, however, led to an autocentric focus. This can result in the most accessible areas being higher speed roads on the outskirts, contributing to an environment hostile to pedestrians.
Ecological scale: protecting biodiversity
Urban expansion poses a significant threat to biodiversity. Between 2000 and 2030, global urban growth is forecast to convert around 290,000 km2contributing to a significant decline in species richness. Green space also been central to new town development. Garden cities were designed to interweave green spaces throughout urban form, with post-war new towns continuing this vision of hybridity. Milton Keynes aspired to be a ‘city in a forest’.
More recent initiatives reinforced this principle. Eco-towns aimed for at least 40% green space, whilst Healthy New Towns recognised the importance of green infrastructure on well-being. The New Towns Taskforce views quality green space as a key place making principle.
Green space supports ecosystem health by providing habitats that sustain greater species diversity. These benefits extend beyond nature, as access is linked directly to improved human well-being.
Local scale: physical and mental well-being
Access to green space is linked to higher levels of activity and ability to relax faster, demonstrating its benefits on physical and mental well-being. Early garden cities recognised this, limiting population size to 30,000 to ensure all residents could easily access to nature.
Post-war new towns adopted the neighbourhood unit principle, organising housing around local services so that daily needs could be met within walking distance. This idea has re-emerged through the concept of a 15-minute neighbourhood. Reducing reliance on cars lowers air pollution while encouraging physical activity.
Social segregation is also linked to improving health outcomes, with there being a correlation to lower illness and mortality rates. Howard’s garden city demanded “genuinely affordable housing for all budgets”, whilst post-war towns pursued ‘social balance’ under the advice of Lord Reith. The New Town Taskforce continues this theme through recommending 40% of houses to be affordable (20% below local market rents), and 20% to be for social rent (around 50% of market rents). This demonstrates a commitment towards enabling diverse income groups to live within them.
Summary
Across their many iterations, Britain’s new towns highlight the influence of planning on health. The New Towns Taskforce builds on these legacies, recognised through its acknowledgment of the need to provide public transport, green space, biodiversity and affordability.