News Designing Better Streets with the Healthy Streets Indicators Healthy Streets is a set of tools that support public health and urban planning professionals to design streets that promote health. At a meeting of HCA’s Healthy Urban Environments Community of Practice earlier this year, local landscape architect and urban planning professional David Petrie explained how he had used the Healthy Streets framework in his work with local governments in southwest Sydney, such as when developing the Cooks River Parkland Master Plan and the Liverpool City Centre Master Plan. David is one of a growing number of Australian design professionals who are using the Healthy Streets Approach. As part of our work promoting healthy urban planning, HCA staff member Alexander Brown is undertaking training in the Healthy Streets approach with its developer Lucy Saunders. As Lucy explained during the course, improving safety is a key priority for our streets. Around the world, road traffic injuries are the leading killer of children and young people. 19 million people die around the world each year due to road traffic crashes. Here in NSW, there have been 332 lives lost in NSW so far this year and there were 11,559 serious injuries due to road traffic accidents in 2024. On top of this obvious health concern, however, is the crisis in physical activity levels that shows the need for a different approach to street design. Adults need at least 2.5-5 hours or physical activity a week and to be active throughout the day, every day. However, 75% of people in Australia are not getting enough physical activity. One of the reasons for this is the design of our streets, which are built around the assumption of car-based transport. Everyday physical activity like walking and cycling is more effective than organised sport to ensure the majority of people reach recommended levels of physical activity. Air and noise pollution also have direct health impacts on the human body and are key issues for better street design. Car-based transport creates air and noise pollution that, in turn, makes it less pleasant for people to walk and cycle and more likely to use their cars, creating a vicious cycle. Another issue impacting on the health of streets is how difficult it is to get from where you are to where you want to go. This is the concept known to urban planners by the technical term ‘severance’ and is another reason we are less likely to opt for active modes of transportation or use public transport. Often, the way we design streets makes it much easier to get around by car. These are some of the reasons why we need all streets that are used by people rather than just cars to be Healthy Streets that are designed to meet our basic needs. The approach can be applied in both metropolitan and regional areas, as well as in rural towns, even on routes where traffic movement is a priority. During the training, we learned about the 10 Healthy Streets indicators that sit at the heart of the framework. These indicators draw on scientific evidence about what makes streets healthy for the people who use them and encapsulate the key findings in simple, descriptive statements. Everyone feels welcome Easy to cross Shade and shelter Places to stop and rest Not too noisy People choose to walk and cycle People feel safe Things to see and do People feel relaxed Clean air The Healthy Streets Indicator wheel reflects the design thinking that underpins the framework. At the four corners are indicators that capture the four main health benefits of healthier streets: clean air (less air pollution), easy to cross (reducing ‘severance’ or disconnected journeys), people feel safe (less traffic-related injuries), and not too noisy (noise pollution). The top and bottom of the wheel indicate the feelings that healthy streets create while the sides refer to the features of Healthy Streets that create this welcoming atmosphere. All the indicators are inter-related, with multiple connections possible across the wheel. Using the indicators, designers can create environments that are ‘people first’ rather than car first’, encouraging greater use of active modes of transportation and public transport use and taking the load off growing traffic congestion. The simple design of the Healthy Streets framework makes it easy to understand and non-professionals can get involved, too. The free Healthy Streets Qualitative Assessment tool is downloadable from the Healthy Streets website. It provides a list of questions against each indicator that you can use to make an objective assessment of how healthy your street is. Why not have a go at completing the assessment for your local street? This can be a great way to start a conversation with your neighbours, elected representatives, and other stakeholders about how to make your street healthier.