Building Healthy Communities through Land Use and Design

Introduction

The Washington Legislature passed Laws of 2005, Ch. 360 (ESSB 5186), which sets out a policy for promoting physical activity through urban planning and transportation approaches. County and city comprehensive plans are directed, wherever possible, to utilize urban planning approaches that promote physical activity. The Washington State Public Health Association adopted Resolution 06-01 (), "Addressing the Public Health Implications of the Built Environment," with the purpose of supporting "the comprehensive, formal, and systematic integration of public health considerations into land use and transportation planning and decision making
processes to ensure the promotion of the health of our communities."

This webpage is part of MRSC's Building Healthy Communities Series. It provides information resources focused on building healthy communities through land use and design. See also MRSC related pages, Promoting Physical Activity and Transportation Planning.

Healthy Living through Land Use and Design Information Resources

Planning for Bicycling and Walking: 2005 Amendments to the Growth Management Act (), Washington State Department of Transportation, Department of Community Trade and Economic Development (now Department of Commerce), and Washington State Department of Health, 08/2005
Active Living by Design - A national program of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and is a part of the University of North Carolina School of Public Health in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
The Built Environment and Health: Eleven Profiles of Neighborhood Transformation, The Prevention Institute, 07/2004 ()
Calculators
- Healthy Growth Calculator, Sierra Club
- Walk Score - Walk Score is a project of Front Seat Management. Its mission is to promote walkable communities.
Community Design: A Toolkit for Building Activity into Daily Life (), Metropolitan Design Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2004 via Design for Health - Prepared for the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota-sponsored conference on Health Implications of Community Design: Moving to Combat Obesity, this toolkit provides background information and tools for addressing this issue. The toolkit is focused on walking rather than cycling.
Creating a Healthy Environment: The Impact of the Built Environment on Public Health (), by Richard J. Jackson, and Chris Kochtitzky, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Sprawl Watch Clearing House Monograph Series, 2009
Creating a Regulatory Blueprint for Healthy Community Design, by Joseph Schilling, Active Living Report, International City Management Association, 2005
Does the Built Environment Influence Physical Activity? Examining the Evidence, National Academies Transportation Research Board and Institute of Medicine, Special Report 282, 2005
- News Release, 01/11/2005 and Full Report
Designing and Building Healthy Places - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Designing and Building Healthy Places Related Articles, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Example Comprehensive Plan Policies to Support Physically Active Communities (), Washington State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development (now Department of Commerce), 09/2007
Healthy and Livable Communities - American Society of Landscape Architects Professional Practice - Provides websites and publications related to the contributions of the landscape architecture profession for healthy communities
Healthy Communities Through Design - New Jersey Smart Growth Gateway
Planning and Designing the Physically Active Community - American Planning Association received a grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to conduct research and prepare a PAS Report and other educational materials to encourage changes to the built environment that will promote physical activity as a means of improving the health of Americans.
- Planning and Designing the Physically Active Community Resource List ()
- Planning Active Communities, edited by Marya Morris, PAS Report No. 543/544, American Planning Association, 2006 (Available through MRSC Library Loan)
- Zoning to Promote Health and Physical Activity, by Marya Morris, Zoning Practice, 06/2004 (Available through MRSC Library Loan)
Promoting Public Health through Smart Growth (), by Lawrence Frank, Sarah Kavage and Todd Litman, prepared for Smart Growth BC, 2006, via Victoria Transport Policy Institute - Building healthier communities through transportation and land use policies and practices
A Study of Land Use, Transportation, Air Quality, and Health (LUTAQH), in King County, 09/2005 - via WalkingInfo.org.