We report here on the development of a practical guide for health impact assessment (HIA) of urban regeneration schemes which sets out an approach to rapid prospective HIA. We provide a succinct account of our approach, illustrated by two case studies in East London, and discuss how the process of HIA must be adapted to different types of regeneration projects. The case studies are described in more detail in Cave and Curtis (2001). In this paper we focus on how the HIA process was adapted to suit different types of regeneration programmes.