Urbanization and health: Examining associations among neighborhood design, safety and quality of life.

摘要

Public health and urban planning share a common history: both have a tradition of leveraging public policy and environmental interventions to improve the health and quality of life. While originally focused on infectious diseases, recent research on the relationship between environment and health is concerned with the influence on chronic health diseases and their risk factors, such as physical (in)activity, sound nutrition, obesity, and hypertension. In the past few years, the utilization of policy and environmental design to improve individual and community health has resulted in new urban design principles, such as Smart Growth and New Urbanism, with the objectives of preventing and controlling non-communicable diseases and promoting healthy lifestyles.;Public health practitioners recognize the importance of stress reduction, social integration and a physically active lifestyle; contemporary urban planning and urban design movements seek to encourage walking and cycling and other means of non-motorized transportation as a way to reduce the negative impact of a car-oriented society. These two disciplines provide tremendous synergism as both seek to create and sustain environments for the citizen and not solely for the automobile; both stress the importance of environments in which green space, recreation space and active living are easily accessible; and both seek to promote alternative modes of transportation, such as public transit, walking and biking.;This pair set of manuscripts will further explore the relationship between urban planning and public health. An overview and discussion of the synergism between public health and urban planning from a theoretical framework of promoting health in the urban context will begin the series; exploring the practical application and potential impact of such approaches on individual and community health with a naturally occurring 'intervention' will provide context to the theoretical framework introduced. In summary, this series of manuscripts are complementary, innovative and contribute to the burgeoning area of research at the intersection of urban planning and public health. These analyses highlight the practical application of such intersectoral collaboration and the potential impact of public policy and urban planning on individual and environmental health outcomes that can be applicable to other urban centers within the Region.