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Understanding the community

An understanding of the community is a fundamental first step in considering how the wider determinants of health may be influenced by, or influence, proposed urban development.

For greenfield sites, it can sometimes be difficult to identify who the ‘community’ is. It could be the surrounding, existing community or the projected, future community, or both. The important thing is to understand the physical and social context of the development and to identify who in existing or future populations may be affected. Discussions with council planners or social planners may be useful to clarify these issues. If you are not familiar with the area, a visit to the site, if possible, is also recommended to help get an understanding of the context and local community.

Questions to better understand the community

The following suggestions and questions are intended to be a relatively ‘quick scan’ to develop an understanding of the community being considered. The scale of the project will determine the detail to which these questions are answered.

Initial considerations

  • Key characteristics of the existing (including surrounding) population and the future (projected) population including size, age, household composition, socio-economic status and ethnicity
  • Identification of vulnerable, disadvantaged or at-risk groups in the local population
  • Key health issues of concern to the local community and/or the  Health Service
  • Health determinants including housing conditions, types of housing, environmental and social issues, employment status, socio-economic status, levels of employment or unemployment, transport infrastructure, social support and access to services (including health care services and sport and recreation facilities)
  • Whether the community has already been consulted during the development of the policy, plan or proposal.

Equity considerations

Equity in the context of the Checklist means that access to opportunities, resources and community benefits (health, safety, open space, transport, housing etc.) are fairly distributed among all residents regardless of their age, gender, cultural background, ability or socioeconomic status.

The following questions are based on the Equity-focused Health Impact Assessment Framework and are considered essential to understanding a community and using the healthy development characteristics addressed within the Checklist:

  • Who will most likely be affected by the policy, plan or proposal?
  • What is known or understood about the sections of the community most likely to be affected?
  • What will the nature of the effects be (good or bad, positive or negative)?
  • Are effects likely to be differentially distributed by socioeconomic status, ethnicity, gender, geography, or some other factor?
  • How do you know this is likely to happen (what is the evidence)?
  • How likely is it that this will occur? How severe is this impact likely to be?

Links to resources

More resources:

  • Local council community and statistical profiles; many councils publish community profiles on their websites that contain an extensive array of community information.
  • The Social Plan or Community Strategic Plan of the local council where the policy, plan or proposal is located.
  • For new planned communities it can be helpful to look at the profiles of similar or nearby communities to see what the key similarities and differences might be.
  • Consulting with people in the local area who understand the community and its dynamics:
  • Council’s Social Planner or Community Services or Community Development Department
  • Community Health Centre workers
  • Community Development Workers at local community centres and services
  • The local Health Service’s Population Health or Planning service
  • Department of Environment Climate Change and Water’s Contaminated Lands register