The Impact of Community Design and Land-Use Choices on Public Health: A Scientific Research Agenda

Dannenberg, Andrew L.; Jackson, Richard J.; Frumkin, Howard; Schieber, Richard A.; Pratt, Michael; Kochtitzky, Chris S.; Tilson, Hugh H.

doi:10.2105/ajph.93.9.1500

Cited by 315 publications

(170 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…In addition, policy-relevant research will require collaboration with community organizations and policy makers who have an influence on urban greening initiatives. 125 Developing relationships with local stakeholders is vital to designing locally relevant nature-based experimental studies, identifying locations suitable for study, and creating buy-in. It will also be necessary to develop partnerships with agencies or organizations that collect health or crime data, such as police departments, public health departments, health centers, or hospitals.…”

Section: Interdisciplinary and Cross-sector Collaboration For Policy-mentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature-Based Strategies for Improving Urban Health and Safety

2015

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Place-based programs are being noticed as key opportunities to prevent disease and promote public health and safety for populations at-large. As one key type of place-based intervention, nature-based and green space strategies can play an especially large role in improving health and safety for dwellers in urban environments such as US legacy cities that lack nature and greenery. In this paper, we describe the current understanding of place-based influences on public health and safety. We focus on nonchemical environmental factors, many of which are related to urban abandonment and blight. We then review findings from studies of nature-based interventions regarding impacts on health, perceptions of safety, and crime. Based on our findings, we suggest that further research in this area will require (1) refined measures of green space, nature, and health and safety for cities, (2) interdisciplinary science and cross-sector policy collaboration, (3) observational studies as well as randomized controlled experiments and natural experiments using appropriate spatial counterfactuals and mixed methods, and (4) return-on-investment calculations of potential economic, social, and health costs and benefits of urban greening initiatives. KEYWORDS Urban nature, Green space, Place-based interventions, Public health, CrimeThere is growing support of place-based programs to help prevent disease and promote public health and safety. [1][2][3][4][5] This movement is largely motivated by increasing findings that public health interventions targeted at individuals or behaviors have limited effect on health and safety outcomes at a population scale. 6 For example, educational programs that promote behavioral change among very specific, targeted population groups may not impact broader societal issues such as the actual contexts within which unhealthy behaviors like tobacco use, lack of exercise, poor diet, distracted driving, and violence occur. 7-9 Moreover, programmatic impact is rarely sustained beyond the small study populations that are targeted. When funding ends, program impact thus also often ends unless, in very rare instances, the program itself somehow becomes institutionalized or part of a larger social norm.Place-based programs rest on increasing evidence that in addition to biological and individual attributes, everyday environments have a potentially strong and Kondo is with the USDA-Forest Service, Northern Research Station,

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Section: Interdisciplinary and Cross-sector Collaboration For Policy-mentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature-Based Strategies for Improving Urban Health and Safety

2015

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“…3,4 Increasing urbanization has been linked to a rise in the prevalence of health disparities, as well as a growing culture of sedentary living, contributing to the development of several chronic disease outcomes. 5 In efforts to improve urban conditions and enhance human well-being, municipal planning groups have developed and promoted several initiatives, including mixed-use development strategies. A potential consequence of these strategies is an increase in environmental noise levels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Noise Levels Associated with Urban Land Use

et al. 2012

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Recent trends towards the intensification of urban development to increase urban densities and avoid sprawl should be accompanied by research into the potential for related health impacts from environmental exposure. The objective of the current study was to examine the effect of the built environment and land use on levels of environmental noise. Two different study areas were selected using a combination of small area census geography, land use information, air photography, and groundtruthing. The first study area represented residential land use and consisted of two-to three-story single-family homes. The second study area was characteristic of mixed-use urban planning with apartment buildings as well as commercial and institutional development. Study areas were subdivided into six grids, and a location was randomly selected within each grid for noise monitoring. Each location was sampled four times over a 24-h day, resulting in a total of 24 samples for each of the two areas. Results showed significant variability in noise within study areas and significantly higher levels of environmental noise in the mixed-use area. Both study areas exceeded recommended noise limits when evaluated against World Health Organization guidelines and yielded average noise events values in the moderate to serious annoyance range with the potential to obscure normal conversation and cause sleep disturbance.

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“…Health is related to how the built environment is perceived as walkable. 6,45 There are other pathways through which health and the built environment could be correlated, 13,41 such as availability of healthful foods, 44 air quality, 22,23 quality of housing stock, 36,47 and so on. However, these pathways, not being relevant to destination walking, are set aside for this present research.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complexity in Built Environment, Health, and Destination Walking: A Neighborhood-Scale Analysis

et al. 2012

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This study investigates the relationships between the built environment, the physical attributes of the neighborhood, and the residents' perceptions of those attributes. It focuses on destination walking and self-reported health, and does so at the neighborhood scale. The built environment, in particular sidewalks, road connectivity, and proximity of local destinations, correlates with destination walking, and similarly destination walking correlates with physical health. It was found, however, that the built environment and health metrics may not be simply, directly correlated but rather may be correlated through a series of feedback loops that may regulate risk in different ways in different contexts. In particular, evidence for a feedback loop between physical health and destination walking is observed, as well as separate feedback loops between destination walking and objective metrics of the built environment, and destination walking and perception of the built environment. These feedback loops affect the ability to observe how the built environment correlates with residents' physical health. Previous studies have investigated pieces of these associations, but are potentially missing the more complex relationships present. This study proposes a conceptual model describing complex feedback relationships between destination walking and public health, with the built environment expected to increase or decrease the strength of the feedback loop. Evidence supporting these feedback relationships is presented.

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The Impact of Community Design and Land-Use Choices on Public Health: A Scientific Research Agenda

Cited by 315 publications

References 30 publications

Nature-Based Strategies for Improving Urban Health and Safety

Nature-Based Strategies for Improving Urban Health and Safety

Noise Levels Associated with Urban Land Use

Complexity in Built Environment, Health, and Destination Walking: A Neighborhood-Scale Analysis

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