The Villeneuve renovation program Health Impact Assessment

Abstract

We conducted a health impact assessment (HIA) on a french urban renovation program in a disadvantaged neighborhood: the Villeneuve, symbol of the architecture of the great ensembles of the 1970s. The ambitions of this new program are opening to the city, simplification of traffic, requalification of the housing stock, creation of living spaces renovation of public facilities enhancement green spaces ... so many challenges to be met for the attractiveness of the territory and its inscription in the heart of the Metropole. The HIA was conducted collaboratively with the services of the city of Grenoble, Echirolles, and the Metropole. The information used to inform the assessment included profiling the community of the Villeneuve, a comprehensive literature review focussing and semi-structured interviews. Many components of the project were evaluated: access to good quality of green and public spaces; urban design; mobility; access to shops and services and social cohesion. The HIA shows that the urban renovation program is likely to have a mix of negative and positive impacts on health, mental health, wellbeing and social cohesion. In particular on the living environment, the attractiveness, the perception of the neighborhood, on physical security and sense of security, opening of neighborhoods, mix functionality, opportunity for leisure and sports practices. In addition the program provides an opportunity to specifically target reducing health inequalities in the area. The HIA working group has co-built 47 recommendations. These recommendations were than hierarchized according to four criteria: political portability - cost- technical feasibility - temporality. This HIA is a structured approach that allowed the renovation program to be observed with a holistic vision of health around the determinants of health and encouraged partnerships and anticipate health issues as early as possible in the decision-making process of urban programs. Key messages The HIA is a structured approach that allows urban projects to be observed with a holistic vision of health around the determinants of health. The HIA encourage partnerships and anticipate health issues as early as possible in the decision-making process of urban programs.