Public Health and the Built Environment: Historical,Empirical,and Theoretical Foundations for an Expanded Role

See Jackson R. Kochitzky C. , Creating a Healthy Environment: The Impact of the Built Environment on Public Health, Sprawl Watch Clearinghouse Monograph Series, available at <http://www.sprawlwatch.org/health.pdf>.

See, e.g., Lenihan P. , “Land Use Planning and Urban Design on the Public Health Agenda,” NACCHO Exchange, 2, no. 1 (Spring 2003): 3.

“The Built Environment: Is There a Connection Between Sprawl & Health?” State Health News, May 6, 2002, at 3.

See, e.g, Ewing R. , “Is Los Angeles-Style Sprawl Desirable?” American Planning Association Journal, 63, no. 1 (Winter 1997): 107–126, at 108; Miller D.W. , “Searching for Common Ground in the Debate Over Urban Sprawl,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 21, 1999, at A15.

Duany A. Plater-Zyberk E. Speck J. , Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream (New York: North Point Press, 2000): At x, Ewing , supra note 4, at 108; Miller , supra note 4, at A15; Adler B. , “Bye-Bye, Suburban Dream,” Newsweek, May 15, 1995, at 47, 49.

Duany A. Plater-Zyberk E. Speck J. , supra note 5, at x.

Postrel V. , “The Pleasantville Solution: The War on ‘Sprawl’ Promises ‘Livability’ But Delivers Repression, Intolerance – and More Traffic,” Reason, March 1, 1999, at 4.

See Peterson J. , The Impact of Sanitary Reform upon American Urban Planning, 1840–1890, in Krueckeberg D. , ed., Introduction to Planning History in the United States, (New Brunswick, N.J.: Center for Urban Policy Research, 1983): At 13.

See Peterson , supra note 8, at 15; Garb M. , “Health, Morality, and Housing: The ‘Tenement Problem’ in Chicago,” American Journal of Public Health, 93 (2003): 1420–30.

See Rosen G. , A History of Public Health (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1993), at 177–178, 212–213, 314–316.

See Peterson , supra note 8, at 15–17.

Quoted in Jackson K. , Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1985): At 70.

See Peterson , supra note 8, at 18–19.

See id. at 21.

Id. at 25.

The view that urban concentration is unhealthy is not a new one. Thomas Jefferson had expressed this view, exclaiming: “I view large cities as pestilential to the morals, the health and the liberties of man.” Quoted in Jackson K. , supra note 12, at 68. Henry Ford later declared, “We shall solve the city problem by leaving the city.” Quoted in Gordon M. , Sick Cities (New York: Macmillan, 1963): At 13.

See Scott M. , American City Planning Since 1890 (Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1971): At 184–187. Indeed, it is noteworthy that Frederick Law Olmstead, the great American landscape architect who designed Central Park in New York and who is so closely associated with the early 20^th Century “City Beautiful” movement, served during the Civil War as director of the U.S. Sanitary Commission. Peterson, supra note 8, at 29. His theories of urban progress were rooted in public health concerns and he had a long-standing interest in the “sanitary value” of parks and trees. Id. at 28.

See Scott , supra note 17 at 152–163. For example, in 1907 a group of housing reformers formed a “Committee on Congestion of Population” and organized a traveling exhibit intended to highlight the health and other ill effects of urban congestion. The exhibit included extensive displays and charts showing population densities in Manhattan along with death and disease rates there. The social agenda of the Congestion Committee included industrial deconcentration and the establishment of low-density housing areas at the city rim. See Rogers D. , Atlantic Crossings: Social Politics in a Progressive Era (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard Univ. Press, 1998), at 182–183. The Committee succeeded in persuading the New York Governor to create a temporary state organization called the “Commission on Distribution of Population” to study ways to disburse the population. See Scott , supra note 17, at 88.

See Scott , supra note 17, at 152–163.

Village of Euclid v. Amber Realty Co. , 272 U.S. 365–397 (1926).

See Duffy J. , The Sanitarian: A History of American Public Health (Urbana: Univ. of Illinois Press, 1992): At 258.

Id at 261, 264.

Id. at 266, 281.

Id. at 262, 270.

Id. at 282–283.

Wilson W. , “Moles and Skylarks,” in Krueckeberg D. , ed., Introduction to Planning History in the United States, (New Brunswick, N.J.: Center for Urban Policy Research, 1983): 95.

Id. at 97.

See Farrell J. , “The FHA's Origins: How Its Valuation Method Fostered Racial Segregation and Suburban Sprawl,” Journal of Affordable Housing & Community Development 11 (2002): 374–389; Jackson K. , supra note 12, at 190–218.

See Alshuler A. , “The Intercity Freeway,” in Krueckeberg D. , ed., Introduction to Planning History in the United States (New Brunswick, N.J.: Center for Urban Policy Research, 1983): 190–234.

See Greer S. , Urban Renewal and American Cities (Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1965); Saunders J.R. Shackelford R.N. , Urban Renewal and the End of Black Culture in Charlottesville, Virginia (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 1998); Jackson K. , supra note 12, at 219–230.

Kaiser E. Godshchalk D. Chapin F.S. , Urban Land Use Planning (Urbana: Univ. of Illinois Press, 1995, 4th ed.). In contrast, the 1979 edition of the same book includes “Health and Safety” as a major category under “Elements of the Public Interest.” Chapin F.S. Kaiser E. , Urban Land Use Planning (Urbana: Univ. of Illinois Press, 1979 3d ed.): At 48.

Krieger J. Higgins D.L. , “Housing and Health: Time Again for Public Health Action,” American Journal of Public Health, 92 (2002):758–68.

See Cummins S.K. Jackson R.J. , “The Built Environment and Children's Health,” Pediatric Clinics of North America, 48, no. 5 (2001): 1241–1252.

See, e.g., Bronrott W.A. , Montgomery County Blue Ribbon Panel on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety , Final Report (January 2002): At 26 (“Over the past half-century, roadways have been designed and constructed primarily to accommodate vehicular traffic rather than pedestrians. Outdated design standards still reflect this emphasis. A result is that the transportation infrastructure leaves pedestrians at great risk, which in turn discourages walking and encourages people to overly rely on single-occupancy vehicles.”).

Ohland G. Nguyen T. Corless J. , Dangerous by Design: Pedestrian Safety in California, Surface Transportation Policy Project, September 2000: 29.

See Ernst M. McCann B. , Mean Streets 2002, Surface Transportation Policy Project, 2002, 1–12, available at <http://www.transact.org/pdfs/ms2002/meanstreeets.2002.pdf>.

See, e.g., Montgomery County Code (Maryland) §§ 50–26; 50–30; 59-D-2.43; 59-D-3.4.

While the focus here is on preventing exposure to environmental toxins, there is also a growing body of data on how changes in the building or road design can enhance health by reducing stress. See e.g. Parsons R. Tassinary L.G. Ulrich R.S. Hebl M.R. Grossman-Alexander M. , “The View from the Road: Implications for Stress Recovery and Immunization,” Journal of Environmental Psychology, 18 (1998): 113–139; Tidwell C. Sowman J. , “The Healing Space,” Managed Care Executive, May 2002, at 35–36.; Frumkin H. , “Healthy Places: Exploring the Evidence,” American Journal of Public Health. 93 (2003): 1451–56.

Ryan D. Levy B. Pollack S. , “Protecting Children from Lead Poisoning and Building Healthy Communities,” American Journal of Public Health, 89 (1999):1690–5.

Cummins S.K. Jackson R.J. , supra note 33, at 1242.

Maantay, J. Zoning, Equity, and Public Health. Am J Public Health. 2001;91:1033–1041.

Friedman M.S. Powell K.E. Hutwagner L. , “Impact of Changes in Transportation and Commuting Behaviors During the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta on Air Quality and Childhood Asthma,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 285 (2001): 897–905.

See, e.g. Clean Water Act § 404; Montgomery County Code (Maryland) § 50–32: Gaffield S.J. Goo R.L. Richards L.A. Jackson R.J. , “Public Health Effects of Inadequate Managed Stormwater Runoff,” American Journal of Public Health, 93 (2003): 152–233.

See Shumway J. , “HUD Enforcement of Lead-Based Paint Rules and Other Lead-Based Paint Activities,” Journal of Affordable Housing & Community Development, 12 (2003): 366–377; Mares R. , “Enforcement of the Massachusetts Lead Laws and Its Effect on Rental Prices and Abandonment,” Journal of Affordable Housing & Community Development, 12 (2003):343–361.

Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21), Pub. L. No. 105–178.

Foege W.H. , Violence and Public Health , Surgeon General's Workshop on Violence and Public Health (October 1985): 19–23; Potter R.H. Krider J.E. , “Teaching About Violence Prevention: A Bridge Between Public Health and Criminal Justice Educators,” Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 11 (2000):339–351.

U.S. Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, available at <www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/dtdata.htm>.

Sweatt L. Harding C.G. Knight-Lynn L. , “Talking about the Silent Fear: Adolescents' Experiences of Violence in an Urban High-Rise Community,” Adolescence, 37 (2002): 109–20.

See, e.g., Katyal N. , “Architecture as Crime Control,” Yale Law Journal 111 (2002): 1039–1125; Newman O. , Defensible Space: Crime Prevention Through Urban Design (New York: Macmillan, 1972): Mair S. Mair M. , “Violence Prevention and Control Through Environmental Modifications,” Annual Review of Public Health, 24 (2003): 209–25, at 215; Hope Tim , “School Design and Burglary,” in Heal K. Laycock G. , eds., Situational Crime Prevention: From Theory Into Practice (London: H.M.S.O., 1986); Carter S.P. Carter S.L. Dannenberg A.L. , “Zoning Out Crime and Improving Community Health in Sarasota, Florida: 'Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design,” American Journal of Public Health, 93 (2003): 1442–45.

See Newman , supra note 49, at 22–50, 74–76, 83–86.

See Katyal , supra note 49, at 1097.

Jacobs J. , The Death and Life of Great American Cities (New York: Random House, 1961): 35–42.

See Katyal , supra note 49, at 1506.

Mair S. Mair M. , supra note 49, at 215. Similarly, it is reported that “[t]he 2000 Sydney Olympics self-consciously employed architecture to reduce crime by modifying landscapes, restricting access to sites, changing parking patterns, and creating visibility around stadiums.” Katyal , supra note 49, at 1047.

See Katyal , supra note 49, at 1069–70.

See Virginia v. Hicks, 123 S.Ct. 2191 (2003).

See Katyal , supra note 49, at 1094.

Chakravarthy M.V. Joyner JM. Booth F.W. , “An Obligation for Primary Care Physicians to Prescribe Physical Activity to Sedentary Patients to Reduce the Risk of Chronic Health Conditions,” Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 77 (February 2002):165–73.

Frank L. Engelke P. , How Land Use and Transportation Systems Impact Public Health: A Literature Review of the Relationship Between Physical Activity and Built Form, Active Community Environments (ACEs) Working Paper #1 (2000), available at <http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/pdf/accessworkingpaper1.pdf>.

Id. at 16. See also Berrigan D. Troiano R. , “The Association Between Urban Form and Physical Activity in U.S. Adults,” American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 23, no. 2 (2002): 74–79; Handy S.L. Boarnet M.G. Ewing R. Killingsworth R.E. , “How the Built Environment Affects Physical Activity,” American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 23, no. 2 (2002):64–73; Podobnik B. , The Social and Environmental Achievements of New Urbanism: Evidence from Orenco Station, at <http://www.lclark.edu/∼podobnik/orenco02> (last visited November 7, 2002).

Frank & Engelke, 'supra note 59, at 17. One recent study of the San Francisco area found that although characteristics of the built environment such as the street grid and proximity to retail induced walking and biking, other factors such as topography, weather, and demographic characteristics were stronger predictors. See Cervero R. Duncan M. , “Walking, Bicycling, and Urban Landscapes: Evidence from the San Francisco Bay Area,” American Journal of Public Health, 93 (2003): 1473–83, at 1483.

One who doubts the relationship between the built environment and behavior might want to consult those in the commercial arena. Retailers have long experimented with store layouts to encourage patrons to walk through more of their stores. The traditional shopping center design has an anchor store at each end of the mall, with small stores in between. The small stores pay a disproportionately large share of the total rent but are willing to do so because of the “foot traffic” of shoppers walking between the anchors. Much money and effort is spent on the physical layout and design of retail spaces in the belief that the physical space affects behavior of store visitors.

Ewing R. Schimd T. Killingsworth R. Zlot A. Raudenbush S. , “Relationship Between Urban Sprawl and Physical Activity, Obesity, and Morbidity,” American J. Health Promotion, 18, no.1 (2003): 47–57.

See, e.g., Montgomery County Code (Maryland) § 59-D-2.12.

See, e.g., Maryland National Capital Park & Planning Commission, “Urban Design Division,” Silver Spring Streetscape Plan: Technical Manual, Draft Report (April 1992).

See, e.g., Maryland National Capital Park & Planning Commission, Recreation Guidelines: Guidelines for Recreation Amenities in Residential Developments (September 1992); Montgomery County Code (Maryland) § 59-D-2.43.

Institute of Medicine. The Future of the Public's Health in the Twenty First Century (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2002): 76–79.

See id.

“America's Epidemic of Youth Obesity,” NY Times, Nov. 29, 2002, at A38.

Reidpath D.D. Burns C. Garrard J. Mahoney M. Townsend M. , “An Ecological Study of the Relationship Between Social and Environmental Determinants of Obesity.” Health Place, 8 (2002):141–5.

See, e.g., Montgomery County Code (Maryland) § 59-G-2.16.

See Gostin L. , Public Health Law: Power, Duty, Restraint (Berkley: U.Cal. Press, 2000): At 3–22.

See Buchanan D. , An Ethic for Health Promotion: Rethinking the Sources of Human Well-Being (Oxford: Oxford Press 2000): At 1–22.

Perdue W.C. Stone L.A. Gostin L.O. , “The Built Environment and Its Relationship to the Public's Health; The Legal Framework,” American Journal Public Health, 93 (2003): 1390–94, at 1392–93.

See, e.g., Ohland , supra note 35, at 21–22 (discussing California's policy of removing pedestrian crosswalks so that pedestrians will not have a “false sense of security”).

See Ernst , supra note 36, at 17.

McMahon E. , “Building Codes Get Smarter,” Planning Commissioner Journal, 43, (Summer 2001): At 4.

See Frank C.D. Engelke P.O. , The Built Environment and Human Activity Patterns: Exploring the Impacts of Urban Form on Public Health, Journal of Planning Literature, 16, no. 2 (2000): 202–218.

See “California Calculating,” New Urban News, 8, no. 5 (July/August 2003): At 11.

See Boutelle K.N. Jeffery R.W. Murray D.M. Schmitz M.K.H. , “Using Signs, Artwork, and Music to Promote Stair Use in Public Building,” American Journal of Public Health, 91 (2001): 2004–06, at 2004.

See Sallis J.F. Bauman A. Pratt M. , “Environmental and Policy Interventions to Promote Physical Activity,” American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 15 (1998): 379–97.

See Linengar J.M. Chesson C. Nice D. , “Physical Fitness Gains Following Simple Environmental Change,” American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 7, no. 5 (1991): 298–310.

Staunton C.E. Hubsmith D. Kallins W. , “Promoting Safe Walking and Biking to School: The Marin County Success Story,” American Journal of Public Health, 93 (2003): 1431–34.

For example, there are significant disputes about the extent to which changes in land use patterns — including densities, mixed-use zoning – and grid street networks, change travel behavior. See Frank Engelke , “supra note 59, at Chapters V, VI. Compare Gordon P. , “Are Compact Cities a Desirable Planning Goal?” Journal of the American Planning Association, 63 (1997): At 95–106, with Ewing, supra note 4.

Moreover, some of the most effective steps may combine environmental changes with other educational and programmatic interventions. For example, the National Recreation and Parks Association has partnered with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health to create a “Hearts N' Parks” program. See “Hearts N' Parks, Year 2,” Parks & Recreation, July 2003, at 47. The program assists park and recreation agencies in incorporating “heart-healthy” information and activities using existing facilities. Similar combined programs have been used to encourage children to walk or ride their bikes to school. See Stauton , supra note 83.

See, e.g., Freilich R. , From Sprawl to Smart Growth (Chicago: American Bar Association, 1999): At 16 (author lists the costs of sprawl as: Community, housing, employment, fiscal, political, transportation, and agricultural and open space; health is not on the list).