Despite the well-established effects of places and communities on health and inequalities, little is known about the local effects of changes to economic systems and their impacts on food, housing, transport and welfare. Local economic changes and external shocks are known to have major implications for all sectors, with widespread direct and indirect effects. It is also now clear that the poor are most at risk in many of these changes.

To assist local and national practitioners, we must investigate how effective place-centred public health strategies can be delivered on a budget with limited resources.

Our aim is to understand how place-centred public health initiatives can be planned and delivered with limited and changing local resources to help reduce health inequalities.