Talking Place

010 - Creating Health Equity in the Built Environment - with Clare Delmar

Tanisha Raffiuddin Season 1 Episode 10

In this episode of Talking Place, Clare —urban health campaigner, housing expert, and founder of Listen 2 Locals—joins host Tanisha Raffiuddin to explore the powerful connection between public health and the places we design, live in, and spend our everyday lives. Clare shares how her work in housing, architecture, and healthcare led her to campaign for more equitable and health-creating urban environments. Drawing on her collaborations with the Institute of Health Equity and insights from Sir Michael Marmot’s groundbreaking research on the principles to deliver ‘Marmot Places’, Clare unpacks the structural inequalities baked into the built environment—and how we can begin to shift them.

The conversation explores why 85% of our health outcomes are shaped by where and how we live, and what it means to design places that prevent illness, reduce stress, and promote joy and connection. Clare introduces bold ideas for the future, including more accessible Health Impact Assessments, a ‘Build for Health’, framework to create health rather than cure it, and the power of storytelling in public health advocacy.

Whether you’re a planner, developer, public health practitioner, or place-based strategist, this episode offers essential reflections on why building for health is the next frontier of city-making.

Join us as we ‘Talk Place’.


💡 Learn more about the ideas mentioned in this episode:

🔗 Marmot Places:
 https://www.instituteofhealthequity.org/taking-action/marmot-places

📘 Health is Made at Home, Hospitals are for Repairs by Lord Nigel Crisp:
 Buy the Book

📝 Claire’s writing:
 Listen 2 Locals


To learn more about Clare – visit here:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claredelmar/?originalSubdomain=uk


To learn more about Tanisha – visit here:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tanishaa
Website: www.conceptculture.co
Twitter: @tanisha.rr
Instagram: @tanisha.rr


To learn more about Talking Place – visit here:

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/talking-place-podcast
Website: www.conceptculture.co/talking-place
Instagram: @talkingplacepodcast
X: @tppodcast_
Bluesky: @talkingplace
TikTok: @talkingplacepodcast


To learn more about Concept Culture – visit here:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/concept-culture-uk
Website: www.conceptculture.co
Twitter: @_conceptculture
Instagram: @_conceptculture

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