Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Urban Planning and Health Equity

  • Published:
Journal of Urban Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Although the fields of urban planning and public health share a common origin in the efforts of reformers to tame the ravages of early industrialization in the 19th century, the 2 disciplines parted ways in the early 20th century as planners increasingly focused on the built environment while public health professionals narrowed in on biomedical causes of disease and disability. Among the unfortunate results of this divergence was a tendency to discount the public health implications of planning decisions. Given increasingly complex urban environments and grave health disparities in cities worldwide, urban planners and public health professionals have once again become convinced of the need for inclusive approaches to improve population health and achieve health equity. To make substantive progress, intersectoral collaboration utilizing ecological and systems science perspectives will be crucial as the solutions lie well beyond the control of any single authority. Grounded in the social determinants of health, and with a renewed sense of interconnectedness, dedicated and talented people in government agencies and communities who recognize that our future depends on cultivating local change and evaluating the results can come to grips with the enormous challenge that lies ahead to create more equitable, sustainable, and healthier cities worldwide.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Melosi MV. The Sanitary City: Urban Infrastructure in America from Colonial Times to the Present. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press; 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Porter D. Health, Civilization and the State: A History of Public Health from Ancient to Modern Times. New York: Routledge; 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Garb M. Health, morality, and housing: the “tenement problem” in Chicago. Am J Public Health. 2003; 93(9): 1420-1430.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Peterson J. The impact of sanitary reform upon American urban planning, 1840–1890. J Soc Hist. 1979; 13(1): 83-103.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Fairchild AL, Rosner D, Colgrove J, Bayer R, Fried LP. The exodus of public health: what history can tell us about its future. Am J Public Health. 2010; 100(1): 54-63.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Commission on Social Determinants of Health. Closing the Gap in a Generation: Health Equity through Action on the Social Determinants of Health. Final Report of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  7. World Health Organization. Our Cities, Our Health, Our Future: Acting on Social Determinants for Health Equity in Urban Settings. Report to the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health from the Knowledge Network on Urban Settings. Kobe, Japan: World Health Organization; 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Boarnet MG. Planning’s role in building healthy cities: an introduction to the special issue. J Am Plann Assoc. 2006; 72(1): 5-9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Northridge ME, Sclar E, Biswas P. Sorting out the connections between the built environment and health: a conceptual framework for navigating pathways and planning healthy cities. J Urban Health. 2003; 80: 556-568.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Mabry PL, Olster DH, Morgan GD, Abrams DB. Interdisciplinarity and systems science to improve population health: a view from the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research. Am J Prev Med. 2008; 35: 211-224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Meadows DH. Thinking in Systems: A Primer. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing; 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Frieden T. A framework for public health action: health impact pyramid. Am J Public Health. 2010; 100(4): 590-595.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Ashley L, Mikkelsen L, Cohen L. Restructuring Government to Address Social Determinants of Health. Oakland, CA: Prevention Institute and Trust for America’s Health; 2008. http://www.preventioninstitute.org/index.php?option=com_jlibrary&view=article&id=77&Itemid=127. Accessed July 20, 2010.

  14. Schulz A, Northridge ME. Social determinants of health: implications for environmental health promotion. Health Educ Behav. 2004; 31(4): 455-471.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Tsui EK. Sectoral job training as an intervention to improve health equity. Am J Public Health. 2010; 100(4): S88-S94.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Institute of Medicine. Local Government Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity. Washington, DC: Institute of Medicine of the National Academies; 2009. http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2009/ChildhoodObesityPreventionLocalGovernments.aspx. Accessed July 20, 2010.

  17. Lovasi GS, Hutson MA, Guerra M, Neckerman KM. Built environments and obesity in disadvantaged populations. Epidemiol Rev. 2009; 31(1): 7-20.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Day K. Active living and social justice: planning for physical activity in low-income, Black and Latino communities. J Am Plann Assoc. 2006; 72(1): 88-99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Handy S. Critical assessment of the literature on the relationships among transportation, land use, and physical activity. Resource paper for TRB Special Report 282: Does the Built Environment Influence Physical Activity? Examining the Evidence, written by the Transportation Research Board and Institute of Medicine Committee on Physical Activity, Health, Transportation, and Land Use; 2005. http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/archive/downloads/sr282papers/sr282Handy.pdf. Accessed July 20, 2010.

  20. Commission for Racial Equality. Sorry It’s Gone: Testing for Racial Discrimination in the Private Rental Sector, a General Investigation. London, UK: Commission for Racial Equality; 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Yinger J. Closed Doors, Opportunities Lost: The Continuing Costs of Housing Discrimination. New York, NY: Russell Sage; 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Boarnet MG, Greenwald M, McMillan TE. Walking, urban design, and health: toward a cost-benefit analysis framework. J Plann Educ Res. 2008; 27(3): 341-358.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Krizek KJ. Residential relocation and changes in urban travel: does neighborhood-scale urban form matter? J Am Plann Assoc. 2003; 69(3): 265-281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Rodriguez DA, Khattak AJ, Evenson KR. Can new urbanism encourage physical activity? Comparing a new urbanist neighborhood with conventional suburbs. J Am Plann Assoc. 2006; 72(1): 43-54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Handy S, Cao X-Y, Mokhtarian PL. Self-selection in the relationship between the built environment and walking: empirical evidence from northern California. J Am Plann Assoc. 2006; 72(1): 55-74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Lee C. Environment and active living: the roles of health risk and economic factors. Am J Health Promot. 2007; 21(4): 293-304.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Lovasi GS, Bader M, Quinn J, Weiss C, Neckerman K, Rundle A. Neighborhood safety, aesthetics and body mass index in New York City. Obes. 2008; 16(S1): S249.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Laraia BA, Siega-Riz AM, Kaufman JS, Jones SJ. Proximity of supermarkets is positively associated with diet quality index for pregnancy. Prev Med. 2004; 39(5): 869-875.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Rose D, Richards R. Food store access and household fruit and vegetable use among participants in the US Food Stamp Program. Public Health Nutr. 2004; 7(8): 1081-1088.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Cummins S, Petticrew M, Higgins C, Findlay A, Sparks L. Large scale food retailing as an intervention for diet and health: quasi-experimental evaluation of a natural experiment. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2005; 59(12): 1035-1040.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Cummins S, Macintyre S. Food environments and obesity—neighbourhood or nation? Int J Epidemiol. 2006; 35(1): 100-104.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Musterd S. Social and ethnic segregation in Europe: levels, causes, and effects. J Urban Aff. 2005; 27(3): 331-348.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Krizek KJ, El-Geneidy A, Thompson K. A detailed analysis of how an urban trail system affects cyclists’ travel. Transp. 2007; 34(5): 611-624.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Eyler AA, Matson-Koffman D, Young DR, et al. Quantitative study of correlates of physical activity in women from diverse racial/ethnic groups: the Women’s Cardiovascular Health Network Project—summary and conclusions. Am J Prev Med. 2003; 25(3 Suppl 1): 93-103.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Fry S, Cousins B, Olivola K. Health of Children Living in Urban Slums in Asia and the Near East: Review of Existing Literature and Data. Washington, DC: US Agency for International Development; 2002. http://www.ehproject.org/PDF/Activity_Reports/AR109ANEUrbHlthweb.pdf. Accessed July 20, 2010.

  36. Ellen IH, Turner M. Do Neighborhoods Matter and Why? In: Goering JM, Feins JD, eds. Choosing a Better Life? Evaluating the Moving to Opportunity Social Experiment. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute Press; 2003: 313-338.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Kjellstrom T, Friel S, Dixon J, et al. Urban environmental health and health equity. J Urban Health. 2007; 84(3 Suppl): i86-i97.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Institute of Medicine, Committee on Environmental Justice, Health Sciences Policy Program, Health Sciences Section. Toward Environmental Justice: Research, Education, and Health Policy Needs. Washington, DC: the National Academies Press; 1999. http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309064074. Accessed July 20, 2010.

  39. Ritz B, Yu F, Fruin S, Chapa G, Shaw GM, Harris JA. Ambient air pollution and risk of birth defects in southern California. Am J Epidemiol. 2002; 155(1): 17-25.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Freeman AM. Distribution of Environmental Quality. In: Kneese V, Bower BT, Baltimore MD, eds. Environmental Quality Analysis: Theory and Methods in the Social Sciences. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press; 1972: 243-278.

    Google Scholar 

  41. Logan JRM, Luskin H. Urban Fortunes: The Political Economy of Place. Berkeley: University of California Press; 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Massey DS, Denton NA. American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  43. Olden K. Impact of environmental justice investments. Am J Public Health. 2009; 99(11): S484.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Morrison DS. Rallying point: Charles Lee’s long-standing career in environmental justice. Am J Public Health. 2009; 99(11): S508-S510.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Downey L. US metropolitan-area variation in environmental inequality outcomes. Urban Stud. 2007; 44(5–6): 953-977.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Wartenberg D, Greenberg MR, Harris G. Environmental justice: a contrary finding for the case of high-voltage electric power transmission lines. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2010; 20(3): 237-244.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Ash M, Fetter TR. Who lives on the wrong side of the environmental tracks? Evidence from the EPA’s risk-screening environmental indicators model. Soc Sci Q. 2004; 85(2): 441-462.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Pastor M, Sadd JL, Morello-Frosch R. Reading, writing, and toxics: children’s health, academic performance, and environmental justice in Los Angeles. Environ Plann, C Gov Policy. 2004; 22(2): 271-290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Mohai P, Lantz PM, Morenoff J, House JS, Mero RP. Racial and socioeconomic disparities in residential proximity to polluting industrial facilities: evidence from the Americans’ Changing Lives Study. Am J Public Health. 2009; 99(Suppl 3): S649-S656.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Bowen W. An analytical review of environmental justice research: what do we really know? Environ Manage. 2002; 29(1): 3-15.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Massey DS. Ethnic residential segregation: a theoretical synthesis and empirical review. Sociol Soc Res. 1985; 69(3): 315-350.

    Google Scholar 

  52. Huttman ED, Blauw W, Saltman J. Urban Housing Segregation of Minorities in Western Europe and the United States. Durham, NC: Duke University Press; 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  53. Dupont V. Socio-spatial differentiation and residential segregation in Delhi: a question of scale? Geoforum. 2003; 35(2): 157-175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. Wilson WJ. The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press; 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  55. Jencks C, Mayer SE. The Social Consequences of Growing Up In a Poor Neighborhood. In: Lynn LE, McGeary MGH, eds. Inner City Poverty in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  56. Anderson E. Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City. New York, NY: W.W. Norton; 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  57. Kleit RG. The role of neighborhood social networks in scattered-site public housing residents’ search for jobs. Hous Policy Debate. 2001; 12(3): 541-573.

    Google Scholar 

  58. Popkin S. New Findings on the Benefits and Limitations of Assisted Housing Mobility. Washington, DC: Urban Institute; 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  59. Ellen IG, Turner MA. Does neighborhood matter? Assessing recent evidence. Hous Policy Debate. 1997; 8(4): 833-866.

    Google Scholar 

  60. Barton H, Tsourou C. Healthy Urban Planning. New York, NY: Routledge; 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  61. Northridge ME. Integrating public health across sectors. Am J Public Health. 2010; 100(2): 200.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  62. Plsek P. Appendix B: Redesigning Health Care with Insights from the Science of Complex Adaptive Systems. In: Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century. Committee on Quality of Health Care in America, Institute of Medicine. Washington, DC: the National Academies Press; 2001. http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309072808. Accessed July 20, 2010.

  63. Gerberding JL. Protecting health—the new research imperative. JAMA. 2005; 294: 1403-1406.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  64. Midgley G. Systemic intervention for public health. Am J Public Health. 2006; 96(3): 466-472.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  65. Minkler M. Linking science and policy through community-based participatory research to study and address health disparities. Am J Public Health. 2010; 100(4): S81-S87.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  66. Dannenberg AL, Bhatia R, Cole BL, Heaton SK, Feldman JD, Rutt CD. Use of health impact assessment in the U.S.: 27 case studies, 1999–2007. Am J Prev Med. 2008; 34(3): 241-256.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  67. Homer JB, Hirsch GB. System dynamics modeling for public health: background and opportunities. Am J Public Health. 2006; 96(3): 452-458.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  68. Garau P, Sclar ED, Carolini GY, lead authors for the UN Millenium Project Task Force on Improving the Lives of Slum Dwellers. A Home in the City. London, UK: United Nations Development Programme; 2005.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mary Evelyn Northridge.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Northridge, M.E., Freeman, L. Urban Planning and Health Equity. J Urban Health 88, 582–597 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-011-9558-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-011-9558-5

Keywords

Navigation