When Winston Churchill said, "We shape our buildings, thereafter they shape us," he eloquently drew a line between the built characteristics of our surroundings and the social outcomes they foster. Winston would, no doubt, feel vindicated though probably saddened to see that over the intervening years his assertion has been proven by a wealth of research that links the design of our towns and cities with high levels of stress, lower propensity to be active and social stigma (amongst many other impacts). These bring with them real, largely predictable problems that stifle lives. These include greater vulnerability to diabetes, heart disease, obesity, mental health problems, alcohol and drug abuse, and violence. The causes of this are many and their interplay complex and extend far beyond just the way cities are designed. However, “there is a reciprocal relationship between urban social conditions and the built environment”, according to Dr Sharon Friel (Director of the Menzies Centre for Health Policy at the Australian National University).

So how does this process work and what can we do about it? One way of looking at this problem and potentially addressing it is to look at our surroundings in terms of the messages that are (often unwittingly) embedded in the built environment, influencing what people in that space can do and want to do. Some of these messages are subtle, whispered and hinted to us by designed characteristics that gently encourage or deter certain choices (Figure 1). Some of these messages will be anything but subtle, shouted at us with menace by hard edges such as barriers and gates that enforce or prohibit what we experience and where we go. When we embed these messages in the built environment, either through conscious design of physical places or by the way we behave in these places, we play a part in framing the range of experiences that others enjoy, endure or miss out on that will over time affect the trajectory of their lives.