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This article was first published in Estates Gazette.
A new commission examining how healthcare services could help drive high street regeneration has launched at UKREiiF, with backers arguing that neighbourhood health hubs could become a catalyst for both economic revival and improved public health.
The “Health on the High Street Commission”, established by think tank Radix Big Tent, will explore how public and private healthcare provision could be integrated into town centres and shopping districts as part of wider regeneration strategies.
The commission is backed by engineering and consulting group Sidara, law firm Stevens & Bolton and architecture practice James Totty Partnership, and will formally launch on 19 May to coincide with this year’s UKREiiF conference in Leeds.
Radix Big Tent said the project would focus on identifying practical ways to overcome planning, funding and operational barriers that have slowed the delivery of healthcare-led regeneration schemes. The commission will be chaired by Professor Ibrahim Ibrahim, author and place strategist at Sidara’s Portland Design, and includes representatives from local government, investment, planning, placemaking and healthcare.
Members include crossbench peer Lord Andrew Mawson, who helped establish the Bromley-by-Bow Health Partnership, and Michael Brown, who led delivery of the Barnsley Health Hub, which relocated outpatient services into the town centre’s Alhambra shopping centre.
The commission plans to report within 12 months and will gather evidence from existing healthcare-led regeneration projects across the UK.
Ben Rich, chief executive of Radix Big Tent, said there was broad political support for locating health services closer to communities, but progress had been hindered by institutional barriers.
“There is widespread political agreement that putting health services at the heart of communities is a good idea,” he said. “And yet, despite this consensus, progress is glacial.”
Rich added: “What becomes clear is that there is not a lack of ambition, but a wall of institutional and systemic inertia that prevents change.”
Professor Ibrahim said the commission would focus less on healthcare provision itself and more on the wider regeneration benefits health infrastructure could bring to town centres.
“The focus of the commission is less about the details of the healthcare provision and more about its halo effect, and how it can drive social and commercial value in our high streets and shopping centres,” he said.
Andrew Steele, partner at Stevens & Bolton, said healthcare uses offered an opportunity to diversify struggling retail locations with long-term occupiers.
“Healthcare is increasingly recognised as a powerful anchor for town centre regeneration and is a great opportunity to repurpose existing retail space as well as diversify our high streets with long-term, resilient assets,” he said.
Radix Big Tent previously established the Housing Commission chaired by Dame Kate Barker, which helped shape aspects of the government’s housing delivery policy agenda.