Ben Goldman looks at the findings in a new paper released by the Pew Health Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, that aims to identify opportunities to increase the utilization of Health Impact Assessments (HIA).
Prepared by the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, the report compiles reviews of laws in 36 jurisdictions in the United States regulating environment and energy, transportation, agriculture, and waste disposal and recycling for opportunities to implement HIAs, which are a key tool in assessing the public health impacts of proposed projects.
As Goldman notes, "In some places, the report found, HIAs are already required in non-health policy sectors, while in others they are actually prohibited by law (though never for transportation). Most jurisdictions fall somewhere in between, with HIAs allowed but not mandated."
A press release accompanying the report announces that, "The first comprehensive study of its kind found an unexpectedly large number of laws that facilitate the consideration of health effects, in fields such as transportation, energy, and agriculture. Many of these legal requirements may be satisfied by conducting health impact assessments (HIAs), a type of study that helps decision makers identify and address the potential and often unrecognized health risks and benefits of their decisions."
Read the full story: How Local Transportation Decisions Can Put Public Health Front and Center
Tools For Measuring Health Impacts Being Prescribed More Often
Eric Jaffe reports on the growing use of "health impact assessments" (HIA), which are used in a similar fashion to environmental reviews, to determine the public health side effects of major projects.
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.
Empowering Doctors to Help Solve Housing Challenges
A survey of the programs taking a proactive approach to the role of housing in health outcomes, and a call for more collaboration between the housing and healthcare industries
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
‘Going backwards:’ Baltimore mayor, students rally against state's transit funding plan
Maryland's proposed six-year plan provides no funding for Baltimore’s BMORE bus program and reduces its road maintenance funding.
Detroit to transform waterfront with $2.2 billion investment
Developers will convert about 18 acres of unused parking lot space into civic spaces.
Minnesota seeks to replace fraud-ridden Housing Stabilization Services with new program
Federal prosecutors have charged over a dozen people in fraud cases involving at least $26 million.
A multi-billion dollar problem is brewing under Oakland’s streets
Oakland’s stormwater drainage systems are in desperate need of upgrades and repairs. The El Niño will only further strain the city’s infrastructure.
$2 trillion in economic growth may hide in ‘micropolitan communities’
Small cities hold 39% of America’s population, but receive only 10% of U.S. venture capital investment.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
One Hundred Miles
County of Mendocino
planning NEXT
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Montrose County
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority