The Chief Medical Officer’s Annual Report for 2024 explores health in England’s cities and highlights the key role played by transport in improving health outcomes on both a public and individual level.

Transport as an enabler of health 

Transport serves as a powerful tool to improve health, with cities providing the perfect environment to encourage greater levels of active travel for short journeys.  

As outlined in the report:

‘Cities should be ideal places for enabling active travel with shorter distances to the things we need or want on a regular basis, including supermarkets, places of leisure, work or healthcare. Making walking and cycling more practical and safer, and access to green space easier and more equitable, would go a long way toward removing barriers to improving physical activity levels and could significantly improve the health of England’s increasingly urban population.’

Transport planners have a key role to play, with the report highlighting that ‘urban planning should prioritise public spaces, green areas, and promote healthy travel options like walking, cycling, and public transport’. Cited measures include ‘superblocks, low traffic neighbourhoods, 15-minute cities and car free cities’ alongside improvements to green spaces and transportation for commuting. 

Echoing calls by CIHT, the report highlights the importance of accessible public spaces, noting that ‘poorly maintained pavements, potholes and uncleared leaves make active travel difficult’, particularly for older or disabled people. 

To learn more about designing public spaces with inclusivity and accessibility in mind, read CIHT’s recently published report, Creating a Public Realm for All. 

>>> Creating a Public Realm for All

Transport and air pollution  

Modes and levels of transport have a clear impact on air pollution, an issue that is particularly pertinent to health in England’s cities.  

‘To reduce air pollution, transport emissions, including from public transport and space heating (especially solid fuel burners), need particular action specific to cities.'

Encouraging greater levels of active travel likewise plays a key role in reducing the environmental impact of transport.  

The report states: 

‘Reducing private vehicle journeys and car dependency by increasing active travel reduces air and noise pollution and levels of carbon emissions in cities. It also reduces traffic congestion, thereby increasing mobility, accessibility and speed of journeys, increasing productivity and economic benefits, and health equity for households without access to a vehicle.’

Further information

To read the full report, please see Chief Medical Officer’s annual report 2024: health in cities - GOV.UK

To read CIHT’s Creating a Public Realm for All report, please see Creating a Public Realm for All | CIHT

By Matilda Fisher, CIHT Policy Advisor