Services
Urban planning and health services
I work with municipalities, architecture practices, NGOs and institutions in Spain and Latin America to assess built environments, understand territorial health challenges and bring evidence into urban projects and plans.
Every commission starts from a specific question. Scope, methods and deliverables are defined according to the decision the team needs to make, the scale of the work and the data available.
What do you need to resolve?
Space Assessment for Health and Wellbeing
How is this space working for the health, wellbeing and everyday experience of the people who use it?
I analyse the physical, environmental and use conditions of a built environment to identify what may support or hinder health, wellbeing, accessibility and everyday experience.
It can be applied to public spaces, facilities, housing and other everyday environments, both existing ones and before and after an intervention. Unlike the territorial diagnosis, its main unit of analysis is a specific place.
Typical deliverables
- Technical report and executive summary with findings, evidence used and limitations.
- Spatial reading through maps, annotated plans or photographic records, depending on the commission.
- Matrix of strengths, risks and opportunities for improvement.
- Recommendations prioritised by relevance, equity and feasibility.
- Pre-post evaluation protocol, when an intervention needs to be studied over time.
Territorial Urban Health Diagnosis
In which areas and for which groups do urban conditions that may affect health and equity concentrate?
I analyse how the environmental, social and urban conditions relevant to health are distributed across a territory. The study can bring together sociodemographic, environmental, mobility, housing, public space and service access data and, where they exist at a suitable scale, population health data.
The diagnosis identifies spatial patterns, exposures, inequalities and priority territories. It does not attribute causality when the data and the study design do not allow it.
When there are no local health data
A health-oriented territorial screening can be carried out using environmental, sociodemographic and spatial indicators. Primary or participatory data can also be incorporated if they form part of the commission.
These sources complement the analysis but do not replace health records. The report states explicitly what has been observed, what can be inferred and what cannot be concluded from the available data.
Typical deliverables
- Inventory and quality assessment of the available sources.
- Indicator system adapted to the territory and the problem under study.
- GIS mapping of conditions, inequalities and priority areas.
- Territorial matrix of risks, resources and opportunities.
- Recommendations and courses of action prioritised by evidence, equity and feasibility.
- Discussion or validation workshop with the responsible team, when it forms part of the scope.
Strategic Consultancy for Urban and Architectural Projects
How can health, wellbeing and equity criteria be brought in before the project's main decisions are settled?
I review and accompany urban or architectural projects as they develop, translating scientific evidence into criteria and decisions that can be applied to the design.
The aim is not to certify a project as “healthy”, but to identify foreseeable risks, opportunities for improvement and possible co-benefits between health, sustainability and equity.
Typical deliverables
- Matrix of health, wellbeing and equity criteria applicable to the project.
- Annotated review of the brief, the report, the drawings or the available documentation.
- Identification of gaps, conflicts and opportunities.
- Prioritised recommendations and design alternatives.
- Working session with the project team.
- Milestone review reports, when the support runs in phases.
Healthy Urban Planning Advice
How can health and equity be embedded systematically in a plan, a strategy or an urban policy?
I support local governments and institutions in embedding health, wellbeing, equity and sustainability criteria into planning instruments and urban programmes.
The work is not limited to reviewing a single project. It examines the coherence between diagnosis, objectives, regulations, actions, indicators, investment and coordination across municipal departments.
Typical deliverables
- Review report on the plan or instrument from a health and equity perspective.
- Matrix linking health determinants, objectives, measures and indicators.
- Identification of gaps, contradictions and opportunities for improvement.
- Proposals for incorporating or reformulating criteria, actions and indicators.
- Roadmap for implementation, monitoring and intersectoral coordination.
- Technical or interdepartmental workshop, when it forms part of the commission.
Free initial session · 30 minutes
A free, no-commitment conversation to get to know the project, clarify the main need and establish whether any of the services can respond to it properly.
The session does not include a technical diagnosis or a written deliverable.
How I work
Every commission starts by defining the question to be answered, the decision it should inform and the constraints in play.
The process can combine:
- Review of scientific evidence and technical documentation.
- Spatial and cartographic analysis using GIS.
- Quantitative indicators and available data.
- Observation of the space and of how it is used.
- Qualitative or participatory information, where relevant.
- Discussion of the results with the responsible team.
Depending on the commission, I draw on international approaches such as the WHO's Healthy Cities and Health in All Policies, Urban HEART and health impact assessment, alongside local regulations, policies and knowledge. The same instrument is not applied automatically to problems of different scale.
Results are turned into products that can be used for decision-making: executive summaries, maps, criteria matrices, prioritised recommendations and roadmaps.
I work on site in Spain. In other countries the technical analysis can be carried out remotely; when the commission requires direct observation, measurements or local participation, a fieldwork phase or the collaboration of a local team is added. Not every service can be delivered rigorously in remote mode alone.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know which service I need?+
If you need to study a specific place, a Space Assessment is the fit. If the question concerns a neighbourhood, a municipality or a population, you probably need a Territorial Urban Health Diagnosis. If you are developing a project, Strategic Consultancy is the right option. If you are working on a plan, a strategy or a policy, Healthy Urban Planning Advice applies. The initial session confirms the fit and defines the scope.
What happens if there are no local health data?+
The first step is to review what information is available, and at what quality and scale. If there are no suitable health data, a health-oriented territorial screening can be carried out using environmental, urban and sociodemographic indicators, incorporating participatory information where relevant. Scope and limitations are stated explicitly: these sources make it possible to identify conditions and priorities, but they do not replace health data and cannot attribute causality on their own.
How is a collaboration formalised?+
After the initial session I prepare a technical and financial proposal setting out objectives, scope, methods, deliverables, schedule and working conditions. For public bodies, the proposal can be adapted to the relevant procurement procedure, provided its administrative requirements are compatible with the scope and conditions of the commission.
How long does a commission take?+
It depends on the scale, the availability of data, the need for fieldwork and the number of phases. I can work through a focused review, a bounded study or staged support. The schedule and milestones are set out in the proposal before the work begins.
Do you work with small municipalities?+
Yes, as long as a scope can be defined that is technically appropriate to the resources and data available. If conditions do not allow the study as originally framed, I propose a narrower scope rather than promising results that could not be sustained.
Can the services be delivered remotely?+
Desk review, data analysis, mapping and part of the consultancy can be carried out remotely. When a space needs to be observed directly, primary data collected or work done with the community, an on-site phase or a local team is required.
What does the initial session include?+
A 30-minute conversation to understand the need, review the possible fit and agree the next step. It does not include technical analysis, a diagnosis or a written report.