Investigator Awards In Health Policy Research Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research
55 Commercial Ave.
Third Floor
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1340		 Tel: (732) 932-3817
Fax: (732) 932-3819
Email: depdir@ifh.rutgers.edu
www.investigatorawards.org
www.rwjf.org
Publications » Featured Books by Investigators:
Section Info
Investigator publications listed on this site relate to research funded through the Investigator Awards program. References are provided for books and selected journal articles written by the investigators. Abstracts are available for some featured publications.
»Go to: Featured Books | All Books | Book Chapters | Journal Articles
Cover
Toward the Healthy City: People, Places, and the Politics of Urban Planning
Corburn, J.
Published: 2009
MIT Press
»Show summary
In distressed urban neighborhoods where residential segregation concentrates poverty, liquor stores outnumber supermarkets, toxic sites are next to playgrounds, and more money is spent on prisons than schools, residents also suffer disproportionately from disease and premature death. Recognizing that city environments and the planning processes that shape them are powerful determinants of population health, urban planners today are beginning to take on the added challenge of revitalizing neglected urban neighborhoods in ways that improve health and promote greater equity. In Toward the Healthy City, Jason Corburn argues that city planning must return to its roots in public health and social justice. The first book to provide a detailed account of how city planning and public health practices can reconnect to address health disparities, Toward the Healthy City offers a new decision-making framework called "healthy city planning" that reframes traditional planning and development issues and offers a new scientific evidence base for participatory action, coalition building, and ongoing monitoring. To show healthy city planning in action, Corburn examines collaborations between government agencies and community coalitions in the San Francisco Bay area, including efforts to link environmental justice, residents' chronic illnesses, housing and real estate development projects, and planning processes with public health. Initiatives like these, Corburn points out, go well beyond recent attempts by urban planners to promote public health by changing the design of cities to encourage physical activity. Corburn argues for a broader conception of healthy urban governance that addresses the root causes of health inequities.
Linked Investigator Award(s):
Jason Corburn, Ph.D., M.C.P.Toward the Healthy City: Urban Planning and Policy for Healthy People and Places
Award Year: 2007

»Show 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.
More Books by Author(s):
Cover
Corburn, J., Toward the Healthy City: People, Places, and the Politics of Urban Planning. MIT Press, 2009.