The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #71155

Susan Handy, PhD, Dept. of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, 530-752-5878, slhandy@ucdavis.edu

Although a substantial body of evidence shows a significant link between the built environment and healthy living, the translation of those findings into guidelines for building healthy communities has yet to advance far. For the most part, community design is shaped by the policies of local governments, especially through their zoning and subdivision ordinances under the purview of planning departments. An essential step toward the building of healthy communities is thus revisions to these local codes so that they require the kinds of characteristics that the research shows are important for promoting healthy living. Another way that local governments shape community design is through their capital improvement programs, under the purview of public works departments. Another essential step toward the building of healthy communities is thus the prioritization in capital improvement programs of projects that facilitate and promote healthy living. To take these steps, local governments need both direction on what to do and encouragement to do it. The presenter will describe two tasks: first, the development of research-based guidelines for building healthy communities that show communities how to adapt their policies to require characteristics that promote healthy living; and second, the dissemination and promotion of these guidelines through professional organizations such as the American Planning Association and the Institute of Transportation Engineers. A case study of local ordinances designed to promote greater street connectivity will be presented to illustrate these tasks.

Learning Objectives:

• To understand the kinds of local policies that shape the built environment and the potential mechanisms that can be used to build healthy communities.
• To describe the characteristics of the built environment that research has linked to higher levels of physical activity and the specific policies that can be used to achieve those characteristics.
• To describe the dissemination of innovative practices in the fields of city planning and transportation engineering and the role of professional organizations in standardizing practices.

Keywords: Environmental Health, Physical Activity

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.