Toward the Healthy City: Urban Planning and Policy for Healthy People and Places

Award Year: 2007	Investigator: Jason Corburn	Budget: $327,421	Categories: Urban Health
Abstract: Although the fields of urban planning and public health worked together in the 19th century to improve the health and well-being of poor American city dwellers, today's urban land-use decisions are no longer driven by public health and social justice concerns. Jason Corburn, Ph.D., is interested in how the two fields might be reconnected to encourage the development of healthier and more just cities. He examines common urban challenges, including health disparities, declines in affordable housing, residential segregation, and unequal access among neighborhoods to transit, open space, and quality food markets. Through case studies of policy innovations in the San Francisco Bay area, where urban planners, public health and community organizations are beginning to work together, Corburn explores how a population health approach might be integrated into land-use decisions through policy processes such as health impact assessment. His project, Toward the Healthy City: Urban Planning and Policy for Healthy People and Places, aims to change views on the connections between public health and urban design, to identify the policy levers that contribute to innovation, and to provide insights for how similar policies can be used in other cities and states.