010 - Creating Health Equity in the Built Environment - with Clare Delmar
In episode 10 of Talking Place, host Tanisha Raffiuddin speaks with Clare Delmar, urban health campaigner, housing expert, and founder of Listen to Locals.
Clare’s career has spanned urban planning, housing, hospital development, public policy, and now public health. In this episode, she shares her insights on how our built environment directly influences health, the importance of listening to communities, and why health must be integrated into how we plan, design, and manage places.
Keep reading for key takeaways from this urgent and insightful conversation.
From Housing Delivery to Health Equity
Clare’s professional journey began in housing and hospital development, including time in the early days of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI). As her career evolved, so did her focus—from bricks and budgets to people and place.
Over time, Clare became increasingly frustrated by the way health was siloed from urban planning and design. Her turning point came when she began working more closely with public health leaders and discovered just how deeply place impacts wellbeing—from air quality and noise to safety, stress, and trust.
Today, she advocates for cities and communities that see health as a product of everyday life not just something we fix in hospitals.
What Shapes Health?
“85% of our health is shaped by the social determinants of health,” Clare explains, drawing from the work of Professor Sir Michael Marmot. This includes housing, education, transport, income, and the built and natural environments we move through daily.
Yet, Clare argues, too many policies still treat health as a medical issue, rather than a spatial or systemic one. She wants to see that change—starting with planning, housing, and development sectors recognising their role in health creation.
“Health is something we can design into places—not something we only treat in hospitals.”
Marmot Places and the Role of Local Authorities
Clare has been working closely with the Institute of Health Equity, whose Marmot Places framework offers a practical pathway for local authorities and communities to tackle inequality and build healthier societies.
In a forthcoming report, Clare and the Institute explore how developers can adopt Marmot-aligned principles to centre equity, long-term thinking, and community empowerment in their work.
Learn more about Marmot Places: Marmot Places
Health is Made at Home
Clare draws inspiration from Lord Nigel Crisp’s book, Health is Made at Home, Hospitals are for Repairs, which calls for a health-creating society—one where prevention and wellbeing are embedded in our daily environments.
Clare’s version of this future includes walkable neighbourhoods, green and blue infrastructure, access to healthy food, and spaces for creative expression—all grounded in trust and designed with community voices at the centre.
Explore the book: Health is Made at Home
Building for Health: A Movement in the Making
Clare is currently developing a new campaign called Build for Health—a toolkit, a rallying cry, and a call to action for planners, policymakers, and developers to work together to make health equity a built-in outcome of placemaking.
It’s still early days, but her vision includes co-created Health Impact Assessments, deeper integration of local knowledge, and better data to support healthier planning. At its heart, the campaign is about trust, redistribution, and care.
From Story to Strategy
Alongside policy, Clare believes storytelling will play a key role in changing hearts and minds. While data may earn trust, it’s narrative and experience that often shift culture and behaviour.
Through her Substack blog Listen to Locals, she continues to share ideas, reflections, and provocations for how we build healthier, fairer cities.
“We need to show people what’s possible. Data is not enough—stories matter.”
The Future of Healthy Cities
So what does a healthy city look like?
For Clare, it’s a place where the streets are green, the homes are safe, the air is clean, and people feel both joy and agency. It’s where arts, culture, and healthcare are not separate pillars—but part of one integrated civic fabric. And it’s where communities help shape the decisions that impact their lives.
Because health equity isn’t about giving everyone the same—it’s about giving everyone what they need to thrive.
Want to hear more from Clare on building for health, local trust, and systems change?
🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or YouTube to catch the full conversation between Tanisha Raffiuddin and Clare Delmar.
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Talk soon!