Nourishing neighbourhoods: an approach to designing healthy living together

Over the past two decades, our understanding of health and wellbeing has deepened, driven by scientific breakthroughs and a growing awareness of how our environments shape our bodies and minds. The global pandemic further underscored the urgency of mental health, social cohesion, and the role that neighbourhoods and cities play in supporting healthier lives.

Eddington is a new, sustainable neighbourhood in North West Cambridge, designed for the local community and the staff and students of the University of Cambridge. Early well-being research into the success of the existing green spaces in phase one of Eddington led to the opportunity to expand the research site-wide and to include the expertise of the University of Cambridge BBP group.

This expanded research led to an in-depth literature review that investigates how urban environments influence an occupant's experience, enjoyment, and long-term health. This literature review and the accompanying case study report Nourishing neighbourhoods: an approach to designing healthy living together, focuses not on prescriptive design techniques but provides a series of questions and principles designers should consider when responding to the context of a site and the community using it. 

On the future phases of Eddington, this work informed the development of the 'community gardens', and we have since applied these principles in subsequent masterplans to influence active transport routes, massing and orientation, external thermal comfort options, and connections to nature.

Download the full literature on the Hawkins/Brown website: Nourishing Neighbourhoods: An approach to designing healthy living together