Officials in Oakland, CA are pioneering a new method of measuring the health impact of development, going beyond EIRs to get a more fully-fleshed assessment.
Health Impact Assessments (HIAs) are more common in other countries, but are gaining ground in the U.S. The San Francisco Department of Public Health has spurred their use here, and is behind the Oakland study.
"More a combination of processes and methods than a simple tool, Health Impact Assessment (HIA) measures potential health effects that a project or policy-such as a housing development or traffic ordinance-might have on a population."
Private developers are even getting on board, seeing the healthiness of a building as a marketing factor.
"'If there's a perception that features can lead to health benefits, I think it will have a demand by occupiers,' says Scott Muldavin, executive director of Bay Area–based Green Building Finance Consortium."
FULL STORY: Built to heal
Making Healthy Places
The editors of the book "Making Healthy Places," recently published in a second edition by Island Press, discuss the intersections of public health and planning, including key concepts such as green gentrification, health impact assessments, and AI.
Healthy by Design: On the Growth of Health Impact Assessments
Joe Gose examines the growing use of health impact assessments to guide decision-making through a case study from the La Alma/Lincoln Park neighborhood near downtown Denver.
Resolving to View City Planning as ‘Preventative Medicine'
Jason Corburn issues an indictment of the "community malpractice" by policy-makers that's led to America's glaring health inequalities, and argues that 2013 must be the year that planning works towards improving the living conditions of the poor.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
USGS Water Science Centers Targeted for Closure
If their work is suspended, states could lose a valuable resource for monitoring, understanding, and managing water resources.
End Human Sacrifices to the Demanding Gods of Automobile Dependency and Sprawl
The U.S. has much higher traffic fatality rates than peer countries due to automobile dependency and sprawl. Better planning can reduce these human sacrifices.
Seattle Transit Asked to Clarify Pet Policy
A major dog park near a new light rail stop is prompting calls to update and clarify rules for bringing pets on Seattle-area transit systems.
Oregon Bill Would End Bans on Manufactured Housing
The bill would prevent new developments from prohibiting mobile homes and modular housing.
Nashville Doesn’t Renew Bike Share Contract, Citing Lost Federal Funding
The city’s bike share system, operated by BCycle, could stop operating if the city doesn’t find a new source of funding.
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