Access to healthy food is a major issue in public health. But just because there's a grocery store nearby doesn't mean health will improve. One entrepreneur looking at supermarket design says the way stores are laid out negatively affects health.
Public health expert Rupal Sanghvi says that supermarkets are designed to sell higher profit margin food -- which happens to be worse for you.
"Sanghvi took it upon herself to start connecting the dots between architecture, environmental design, and public health. In the year since establishing HealthxDesign, she has partnered with design professionals to investigate solutions ranging from sustainable building strategies for Bolivia's health care infrastructure to product design interventions for preventing infant mortality in impoverished communities. Now she has set her sights on the federal government's supermarket spending plan, with a proposal to rethink the store design template.
'The current supermarket template is not behavior neutral,' Sanghvi explains. 'The more times you bump into something at eye level, the more likely you are to purchase it, and store owners are aware of this. There's a lot of product placement and they're all about having the candy in front of the cash register for kids.'
Trying to encourage impulse buys may be obvious, but some factors driving shopping behaviors are more subtle. Bakeries are located toward the back of the store so the aroma will draw shoppers past items that might not be on their list, but which are likely to end up in the cart if spotted. Likewise dairy cases-where almost every shopper goes on every visit-tend to be in the rear. And for anyone who has ever wondered why supermarkets tend to be chilly, Sanghvi reports that heavy A/C actually triggers a basic human instinct: when we're cold, we want to accumulate more food."
FULL STORY: A Better Way to Fight Obesity: New, Smarter Supermarkets

Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Walmart Announces Nationwide EV Charging Network
The company plans to install electric car chargers at most of its stores by 2030.

New State Study Suggests Homelessness Far Undercounted in New Mexico
An analysis of hospital visit records provided a more accurate count than the annual point-in-time count used by most agencies.

Michigan Bills Would Stiffen Penalties for Deadly Crashes
Proposed state legislation would close a ‘legal gap’ that lets drivers who kill get away with few repercussions.

Report: Bus Ridership Back to 86 Percent of Pre-Covid Levels
Transit ridership around the country was up by 85 percent in all modes in 2024.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Moorpark
City of Tustin
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions