Filter Publications
Built Environment and Public Health: More Than 20 Years of Progress
FIGURE 1— Built Environment and Health Articles Indexed by Four Databases, 2003–2022 Fall 2023 marked 20 years since the AJPH “Built Environment and Health” (BEH) special issue.1 The issue highlighted the reengagement of health and design professions and growing interest in the built environment’s potential to improve health. Public health and urban planning linkages were not new. Late 19th- and early 20th-century efforts to improve air, water, food, and housing quality; sanitation; and workplace safety contributed to better quality of life and increased life expectancy. The sectors became isolated over time, with little collaboration until recent decades. The anniversary of the special issue offers an opportunity to inventory progress in BEH: combined perspectives from public health, urban planning, architecture, transportation, and related fields on how the physical components of where we live, work, learn, and play influence health. The following sections contain an overview of BEH progress in research, practice, education, and policy, as well as current context and future priorities.
Read moreMaking Healthy Places: Designing and Building for Well-Being, Equity, and Sustainability
In Making Healthy Places, Second Edition: Designing and Building for Well-Being, Equity, and Sustainability, planning and public health experts Nisha D. Botchwey, Andrew L. Dannenberg, and Howard Frumkin bring together scholars and practitioners from across the globe in fields ranging from public health, planning, and urban design, to sustainability, social work, and public policy. This updated and expanded edition explains how to design and build places that are beneficial to the physical, mental, and emotional health of humans, while also considering the health of the planet. This edition expands the treatment of some topics that received less attention a decade ago, such as the relationship of the built environment to equity and health disparities, climate change, resilience, new technology developments, and the evolving impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on the latest research, Making Healthy Places, Second Edition imparts a wealth of practical information on the role of the built environment in advancing major societal goals, such as health and well-being, equity, sustainability, and resilience. This update of a classic is a must-read for students and practicing professionals in public health, planning, architecture, civil engineering, transportation, and related fields.
Read moreManaged Retreat as a Strategy for Climate Change Adaptation in Small Communities: Public Health Implications
Table 1. Characteristics of selected case studies of managed retreat in small communities In coming decades, sea level rise associated with climate change will make some communities uninhabitable. Managed retreat, or planned relocation, is a proactive response prior to catastrophic necessity. Managed retreat has disruptive health, sociocultural, and economic impacts on communities that relocate. Health impacts include mental health, social capital, food security, water supply, sanitation, infectious diseases, injury, and health care access. We searched peer-reviewed and gray literature for reports on small island or coastal communities at various stages of relocation primarily due to sea level rise. We reviewed these reports to identify public health impacts and barriers to relocation. We identified eight relevant small communities in the USA (Alaska, Louisiana, and Washington), Panama, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. Affected populations range from 60 to 2700 persons and are predominantly indigenous people who rely on subsistence fishing and agriculture. Few reports directly addressed public health issues. While some relocations were successful, barriers to relocation in other communities include place attachment, potential loss of livelihoods, and lack of funding, suitable land, community consensus, and governance procedures. Further research is needed on the health impacts of managed retreat and how to facilitate population resilience. Studies could include surveillance of health indicators before and after communities relocate due to sea level rise, drought, or other environmental hazards. Lessons learned may inform relocation of both small and large communities affected by climate change.
Read more