Built Environment / Healthy Community Design

A Systematic Approach to Tackling Blight in Small-town America [DOC - 795 KB] – developing new solutions and a vision to engage stakeholders in finding nontraditional methods of dealing with blighted properties. This is one in a series of reports prepared by a graduate of CDC’s Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute.

Building Environment – This section from Emergency and Terrorism Preparedness for Environmental Health Practitioners provides resources on protecting building environments as well as general links on improving indoor air quality.

Designing and Building Healthy Places – information on health issues and CDC projects related to community design and the built environment

Development of a Health Impact Assessment Protocol for Polk County, Florida [DOC - 442 KB] – protocol for health impact assessments of construction projects and developments in Polk County. This is one in a series of reports prepared by a graduate of CDC’s Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute.

Impact of the Built Environment on Health [PDF - 101 KB] – CDC's activities to promote healthy community design

Improving Land Use and Planning Decisions in Nassau County, Florida [DOC - 410 KB] – examines smart growth’s relationship to public health through air quality, urban environmental issues and environmental justice, and physical activity levels. This is one in a series of reports prepared by a graduate of CDC’s Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute.

Links to Information from outside CDC

A Better Way of Living (Rollins School of Public Health) – two studies help shape Atlanta’s built environment and parks

Next–Door Neighbors (Rollins School of Public Health) – CDC and Rollins School of Public Health collaborate to keep people healthy, including efforts to define and articulate issues related to the built environment

Taming Urban Sprawl (Rollins School of Public Health) – the impact of sprawling development on public health

Additional Federal and State Government Resources:

American Institute of Architects (AIA) – organization dedicated to designing healthy, secure, and sustainable buildings and cityscapes

American Planning Association (APA) – nonprofit public interest and research organization representing planners, officials, and citizens involved with urban and rural planning issues

Center for Watershed Protection – The Center for Watershed Protection is a nonprofit 501(c)3 corporation that provides local governments, activists, and watershed organizations around the country with the technical tools for protecting some of the nation’s most precious natural resources: our streams, lakes, and rivers.

Child Proofing Our Communities Campaign – National campaign geared to protect children from exposures to environmental health hazards in schools and other childcare settings. Coordinated by the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice (Falls Church, VA).

Congress for the New Urbanism – The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) advocates the restructuring of public policy and development practices to support the restoration of existing urban centers and towns within coherent metropolitan regions. CNU sponsors annual meetings that bring together members of every development–related field so they can discuss ways to reconfigure sprawling suburbs into communities of real neighborhoods and diverse districts, conserve natural environments, and preserve our built legacy.

“Energy Smart Schools” Program (U.S. Department of Energy) – promotes environmentally sound and healthy school design

Maryland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee – Two major efforts of the MBPAC are the development of the Safe Routes to Schools Pilot Program and advising MDOT on the development and implementation of the 20-year Statewide Bicycle and Pedestrian Access Master Plan.

National Center for Bicycling & Walking (NCBW) – National Center for Bicycling & Walking (founded as the Bicycle Federation of America) has been working for more bicycle–friendly and walkable communities. This Web site is designed to support the activities and initiatives of people across the country working in their professional work and private lives to make America a better place to walk and to bicycle. Includes ordering information for the 48–page guide "Increasing Physical Activity Through Community Design: A Guide for Public Health Practitioners" on how to make communities more bicycle friendly and walkable.

National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities (NCEF) – professional association focusing on school facilities planning and healthy school design

Smart Growth in Maryland – overview of Maryland's Smart Growth and Neighborhood Conservation program initiated in 1997.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

• Healthy School Environments – gateway to online resources to help facility managers, school administrators, architects, design engineers, school nurses, parents, teachers, and staff address environmental health issues in schools
• Environmental Benefits of Smart Growth – information about smart growth issues and how they affect the environment

University Resources

Center for Universal Design – The Center for Universal Design is a national research, information, and technical assistance center that evaluates, develops, and promotes universal design in housing, public and commercial facilities, and related products.

National Center on Accessibility – A collaborative program of Indiana University and the National Park Service, the National Center on Accessibility is the nation’s premiere resource promoting access for people with disabilities in recreation.

The National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education – The goal of the center is to provide up–to–date information on smart growth research currently being conducted by the University of Maryland. Tools and services provided by the center are designed to guide developers and policy makers toward "smarter" land–use decisions.

Public Health Grand Rounds – The University of North Carolina and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sponsor the Public Health Grand Rounds to promote a leadership–level national dialogue on public health issues of strategic significance.

• The Epidemic of Obesity: Personal Choice or Environmental Consequence? (June 27, 2002) – This purpose of this grand round was to increase awareness of personal and environmental risk factors contributing to obesity, to promote traditional and nontraditional public health partnerships, and to strengthen the public health infrastructure.
• Urban Sprawl: What’s Health Got to Do With It? (January 18, 2002) – This purpose of this grand round was to discuss urban sprawl and its affects on land use, transportation, and social and economic development, as well as the implications for our health. The grand round examines the case of Portland, Oregon, a community that has made great strides in containing urban sprawl.

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