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8 publications listed under Built environment + Urban design

Parks and Recreation in Cancer Prevention: Bringing Cancer Center Outreach and Engagement Initiatives to Public Spaces Through Partnership With Local Governments

2026 / Built environment + Urban design, Green spaces, Health and well-being, Healthcare providers

Introduction Public parks are an integral part of the built environment, with a considerable role to promote public health by advancing physical health, mental wellness and overall quality of life. The potential exists for parks and greenspace to contribute to cancer control and prevention, and local park and recreation departments (PARDs) are natural partners for Comprehensive Cancer Centers as they pursue Community Outreach and Engagement activities. However there is a lack of research on best practices for structuring these relationships to ensure success. Methods A collaboration framework for Comprehensive Cancer Centers and PARDs was informed by the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, Sustainment (EPIS) model of implementation science. The model was applied by a large cancer center to 3 implementation sites in the greater Houston area. A set of shared measures were developed and tracked across all sites. Results Three PARDs implemented 5 unique active living and sun safety evidence-based interventions (EBIs) of 2 main types, educational focused interventions (to increase knowledge and change behavior) and infrastructure interventions (to modify the physical environment). Three-quarters (75%, 9/12) of all educational EBIs across communities were sustained by the PARDs one or more years after the funding ended; all (13/13) infrastructure projects were completed during the active implementation period and sustained by the PARDs. A range of 10-39 partners supported the work of the PARDs. Conclusion The 3 collaboration sites each offer a case study on the impact and effectiveness of health promotion across sectors to impact modifiable risk factors for cancer, leveraging the replicable EPIS model. Partnership is critical to both sectors to advance community health and impact.

Built Environment and Public Health: More Than 20 Years of Progress

2024 / Built environment + Urban design

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. 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.

Nature in Urban Planning for Better Human Health

2024 / Built environment + Urban design, Urban

Urban planning, public health, and nature are intricately connected. Studies show that exposure to natural environments can reduce stress, improve mental health, increase social cohesion, and promote physical activity – all of which can attribute to positive health outcomes. Understanding the specific elements of nature experiences and their health benefits is crucial for tailoring urban planning efforts to meet community and public health goals. Nature in Urban Planning for Better Human Health provides a roadmap for planners to incorporate nearby nature into the planning process to promote health and create vibrant urban living spaces for all residents. Using evidence from the literature, the guide will help planners align their efforts with public health priorities and establish goals that maximize the benefits of natural assets. It shows how planners can carefully consider nature as part of an urban system to design environments that enhance residents’ interactions with nature, promote physical activity, and improve overall health outcomes. Americans face several health crises, from chronic physiological disease to mental health issues. A growing body of evidence suggests that proximity to nature has a positive impact on human health. Chapters 1 and 2 of the guide provide the background and evidence for the positive impact of nature on health. Chapter 3 introduces plan-making and describes how public engagement and cross-sector collaboration can be used to integrate nature into plan-making process. Chapter 4 discusses the important physical aspects of nature that influence residents’ well-being, providing guidance on how to design and manage urban green spaces using the principles of “activating elements” such as dosage and sound. Perceptual and experiential aspects of urban nature, such as wayfinding, spatial definition, and safety considerations, are described in Chapter 5, providing valuable insights to planning environments that are inclusive and supportive of diverse needs. Finally, Chapter 6 focuses on the implementation of community plans. It shows how public land use, development regulations, and economic approaches such as incentives can be used to attract public and private capital to fund, preserve, and expand urban green spaces.

Making Healthy Places, Second Edition: Designing and Building for Well-Being, Equity, and Sustainability

2022 / Built environment + Urban design, COVID

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.

What Next? Expanding Our View of City Planning and Global Health, and Implementing and Monitoring Evidence-Informed Policy

2022 / Built environment + Urban design

Figure 1. The pathways through which urban and transport planning decisions affect health This Series on urban design, transport, and health aimed to facilitate development of a global system of health-related policy and spatial indicators to assess achievements and deficiencies in urban and transport policies and features. This final paper in the Series summarises key findings, considers what to do next, and outlines urgent key actions. Our study of 25 cities in 19 countries found that, despite many well intentioned policies, few cities had measurable standards and policy targets to achieve healthy and sustainable cities. Available standards and targets were often insufficient to promote health and wellbeing, and health-supportive urban design and transport features were often inadequate or inequitably distributed. City planning decisions affect human and planetary health and amplify city vulnerabilities, as the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted. Hence, we offer an expanded framework of pathways through which city planning affects health, incorporating 11 integrated urban system policies and 11 integrated urban and transport interventions addressing current and emerging issues. Our call to action recommends widespread uptake and further development of our methods and open-source tools to create upstream policy and spatial indicators to benchmark and track progress; unmask spatial inequities; inform interventions and investments; and accelerate transitions to net zero, healthy, and sustainable cities.

COVID-19, the Built Environment, and Health

2021 / Built environment + Urban design, COVID

Figure 1. Milan’s lazaretto, built just outside the city’s walls in the late 15th and early 16th centuries to house plague victims. Having outlived its usefulness, it was demolished about 400 y later. This part of Milan, Porta Venezia, is now a vibrant neighborhood of galleries and ethnic restaurants—or it was until COVID-19 struck. Source: Wikimedia Background Since the dawn of cities, the built environment has both affected infectious disease transmission and evolved in response to infectious diseases. COVID-19 illustrates both dynamics. The pandemic presented an opportunity to implement health promotion and disease prevention strategies in numerous elements of the built environment. Objectives This commentary aims to identify features of the built environment that affect the risk of COVID-19 as well as to identify elements of the pandemic response with implications for the built environment (and, therefore, for long-term public health). Discussion Built environment risk factors for COVID-19 transmission include crowding, poverty, and racism (as they manifest in housing and neighborhood features), poor indoor air circulation, and ambient air pollution. Potential long-term implications of COVID-19 for the built environment include changes in building design, increased teleworking, reconfigured streets, changing modes of travel, provision of parks and greenspace, and population shifts out of urban centers. Although it is too early to predict with confidence which of these responses may persist, identifying and monitoring them can help health professionals, architects, urban planners, and decision makers, as well as members of the public, optimize healthy built environments during and after recovery from the pandemic.

From Sanitary to Sustainable to Sacred: Metro Nature Experiences and Engagement

2021 / Built environment + Urban design, Landscape design, Urban

The expression of nature and ecology in cities is adaptive, as planners and managers address multiple urbanization challenges and pursue multiple goals. Human health and wellness are benefits of nearby nature experiences, elevating the importance of natural areas and urban ecology for health promotion. Engineered and gray infrastructure systems can address the sanitary needs of residents such as hygiene and disease prevention. More recent innovations that integrate built and natural systems for green infrastructure provide necessary services by relying more on ecological functions. While addressing practical needs, the reintroduction of nature in cities can also be planned to offer places that reduce human stress, provide solace, and promote community—the civic sacred. Sacred spaces are often socially constructed. They may be distinctive natural features that are culturally revered outdoor spaces, or are sites created and consecrated as secular memorials, or places that take on meaning through community engagement. The health benefits of such spaces extend from individuals to entire communities, and positive experiences can lead to place attachment and environmental stewardship commitments. Local government policies, programs, and research are needed to better understand and implement sacred spaces in cities, including attention to equity to assure that all residents have access.

Building Healthy Community Environments: A Public Health Approach

2018 / Built environment + Urban design, Chronic diseases

A framework for improving community health through better environment decision making. The current state presents baseline health and defines built environmental challenges. The desired state presents public health and environmental goals for a healthy community. The core components of the public health approach are shown indicating the path toward the desired state. Adapted from the World Health Organization. Bulleted items may differ for various communities and applications. Environmental quality has a profound effect on health and the burden of disease. In the United States, the environment-related burden of disease is increasingly dominated by chronic diseases. At the local level, public health practitioners realize that many policy decisions affecting environmental quality and health transcend the authorities of traditional health department programs. Healthy decisions about the built environment, including housing, transportation, and energy, require broad collaborative efforts. Environmental health professionals have an opportunity to address the shift in public health burden toward chronic diseases and play an important role in the design of healthy communities by bringing data and tools to decision makers. This article provides a guide for community leaders to consider the public health effects of decisions about the built environment. We present a conceptual framework that represents a shift from compartmentalized solutions toward an inclusive systems approach that encourages partnership across disciplines and sectors. We discuss practical tools to assist with environmental decision making, such as Health Impact Assessments, environmental public health tracking, and cumulative risk assessment. We also identify priorities in research, practice, and education to advance the role of public health in decision making to improve health, such as the Health Impact Assessment, as a core competency for environmental health practitioners. We encourage cross-disciplinary communication, research, and education that bring the fields of planning, transportation, and energy in closer collaboration with public health to jointly advance the systems approach to today’s environmental challenges.