Saluura: Date with a Smoothie?
Could Amelia Dimoldenberg’s decision to conclude Chicken Shop Date create a gap for a Smoothie Bar Date show, reflecting the profound shift in public attitudes towards health and wellbeing?
Only around 10–20% of the modifiable factors influencing our health relate to medical care. The other 80-90% is influenced by the places in which we live our everyday lives: our behaviours, our social and economic circumstances and our environment. Put simply, places shape wellness.
The Global Wellness Institute estimates that the global wellness economy is forecast to approach $10 trillion by 2029. Wellness real estate is the fastest-growing segment of the wellness economy. At the same time, consumer awareness of wellness continues to grow, with wellbeing increasingly influencing decisions about where people live, work, invest and spend their leisure time.
Yet despite growing recognition of wellness as a critical component of successful places, measuring and improving the contribution of neighbourhoods, town centres and mixed-use districts to human wellbeing remains surprisingly difficult.
Looking beyond individual buildings
Many existing assessment systems focus on individual buildings or specific aspects of place. Recognising this gap, Placemaking London developed Saluura as a truly place-based approach to wellness. Saluura evaluates wellness at the scale people actually experience it: the wider neighbourhood and its surrounding context.
Drawing on the Global Wellness Institute's Six Dimensions of Wellness Real Estate, the framework assesses physical, mental, social, community, environmental and economic wellbeing through a comprehensive appraisal of the built environment. Importantly, it considers not only what exists within a site or development boundary, but also the adjacent ecosystem of streets, parks, transport networks, cultural destinations, community facilities and local services that collectively influence health and quality of life.
From appraisal to delivery
As a comprehensive appraisal, design and delivery service, Saluura helps organisations understand existing conditions, identify opportunities for improvement and develop practical interventions that can enhance wellness outcomes over time.
The process identifies strengths, gaps and priorities, enabling organisations to focus resources on interventions that deliver meaningful benefits for residents, workers, visitors and businesses. In doing so, Saluura moves wellness beyond aspiration and into measurable action.
A new lens for the future city
The most attractive, commercially successful and resilient places will be those that support wellness. And while Smoothie Bar Date might not replace Chicken Shop Date, an important truth is wellness is moving from the margins to the mainstream. As expectations continue to evolve, the places that thrive will be those designed not simply for occupation, but for human flourishing.
