From hyperturbulence to hope: Creating a healthy society

In his keynote address, Lord Crisp argued that the ideas needed to build a healthier society were already emerging through local initiatives in health, education and the built environment. The challenge was to help those ideas flourish and reshape systems that too often worked against them.

For planners, architects and policymakers, this means looking beyond the delivery of individual buildings to consider how places support relationships, opportunity and meaningful lives.

“We are still talking about 1.5 million houses rather than talking about places and community as the main thing,” he said, referencing the UK Labour Government’s pledge to build 1.5 million net new dwellings in England by the next general election.

Lord Crisp challenged the narrowing of planning’s role to processing applications and absorbing blame for slow development. Recalling the ambition behind the garden cities movement in the early 20th century, he called for renewed purpose and vision in shaping the places where people live.

His argument formed part of a wider appeal for public and private organisations to adopt a shared goal: creating a healthy society that works for everyone. Such a society, he explained, should be judged by more than individual health outcomes. It should also provide effective education, housing and employment, protect democratic participation and the rule of law, and sustain the natural systems on which people depend. Crucially, its success should be judged by its members themselves.

He described the current period as one of “hyperturbulence”, with climate change, conflict, migration and technological upheaval occurring alongside political failures and growing disadvantage. Yet he also found grounds for optimism in people developing practical responses outside established structures.

In health, he highlighted social prescribing, community health and wellbeing workers, and initiatives bringing together local organisations involved in activities ranging from music to environmental projects.

These approaches illustrated a shift towards prevention and health creation, supported by stronger relationships within communities. Hospitals and specialist treatment remained essential, he stressed, but there needed to be a more developed network of care and support closer to people’s homes.

The same thinking applied to the built environment: providing houses was necessary, but creating communities required a broader understanding of people’s lives.

The barriers, Lord Crisp suggested, lay partly in professional and institutional habits. Organisations were accustomed to working within tightly defined responsibilities, while the challenges facing individuals and communities crossed those boundaries.

He urged professionals to think of themselves as working alongside people, helping them navigate knowledge and influence change. Leadership, similarly, should encompass responsibility for a community as well as the running of an organisation.

Greater public participation was central to that approach. Lord Crisp described a recurring disconnect: professionals asking how to discover what communities wanted, while residents struggled to get authorities to listen. Closing that gap would require changes in both institutions and professional attitudes.

For Congress delegates, his message was that healthier places did not depend on waiting for an entirely new set of ideas. Many were already being tested by people like those in the room and beyond.

The task is to recognise their potential, support their development, and make them part of everyday practice.