Spotlight on... Professor Haim Yacobi

Haim Yacobi - This week, Haim talks to us about his work looking at health outcomes in divided cities, the importance of creating a sense of community among students, and his long-standing morning routine. What is your role and what does it involve?  I am a Professor of Development Planning at the Bartlett Development Planning Unit (DPU), leading our MSc Health in Urban Development. In this role I teach a core module "Health, Social Justice and the City" that introduces key approaches, theories and ideas for the study of urban health. Additionally, I also lead our practice module focusing on how urban conflicts and spatial division have driven significant changes in the production and use of urban spaces and population health in cities where ongoing conflict (often violence) occurs. In the last two years we have worked in Nicosia, exploring how the division of the city affects the health of communities, and this coming year we will work in Belfast, in partnership with Belfast Healthy City. We will explore different urban health challenges such as children's health in post-conflict cities, care zones development, car dependency and health as well as the effect of leaded water on different communities in Belfast. I see our practice module as a unique opportunity for students to integrate their academic knowledge into practice, and hence there is a strong emphasis on "real-life" urban health problems, the development of effective health intervention in urban scale including policies, planning, development etc.