The Role of Public Policymaking
from Part II - Examples, Issues and Opportunities for Policy and Practice
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 May 2026
This chapter explores how public policy shapes healthy neighbourhoods and communities by addressing place as a fundamental determinant of health and wellbeing. It outlines a causation framework emphasising the interplay of biological, social, economic, historical, and environmental determinants, highlighting how places significantly influence health through material, psychosocial, biological, and behavioural pathways. Central to this discussion is the role of intersectoral public policies and multisectoral collaboration, particularly through the ‘Health in All Policies’ (HiAP) approach, to address complex societal issues across multiple domains, including housing, transport, employment, social infrastructure, and public spaces. The chapter introduces the ‘Place in All Policies’ (PiAP) model, adapting HiAP by emphasising community-driven, ecological, and culturally responsive governance frameworks. It concludes that effective policy must recognise and incorporate local and Indigenous knowledge, fostering community engagement and integrated policy frameworks to enhance the health, resilience, and sustainability of communities.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.