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

Abstract

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.