Decisions about land use in cities, towns, and metropolitan regions have huge impacts on how people live: from the supply of affordable, high-quality housing in communities and the types of available and reliable public transportation to the presence of grocery stores that sell healthy food. Land use decisions affect the shape and feel of a community, and the health of those who live there.

The relationship between land use, development, redevelopment, and community health is attracting increasing interest from a myriad of stakeholders, ranging from public health officials and affordable housing organizers to transportation equity advocates.

With partners nationwide, the PolicyLink Center for Health and Place works to influence policy decisions about how communities are built, maintained, and improved through regulation, design, financing, and the overall property development process.

City of Richmond: Considering Health in the General Plan

A jurisdiction's general plan (or comprehensive plan) is an important statement of its intentions for the future: how and where to grow, what to preserve, and what values undergird the community's vision for itself and the future. General plans serve as the constitution for a city’s overall growth and development over the long term; they define the vision and policy goals for land use, circulation, economic development, housing, and other important issues.

The City of Richmond, CA is looking to its general plan as an important opportunity to improve community health and wellbeing in the years and decades to come. Richmond is undertaking an innovative approach to creating a healthy city by incorporating a health perspective in its general plan update. Richmond is pioneering the creation and implementation of a Community Health and Wellness Element through an interdepartmental, interagency approach.

PolicyLink is working with Richmond city officials, Contra Costa County Health Services, and other stakeholders to address ten place-based influences of community health through:

• Neighborhood improvement strategies,
• Citywide systems and policies,
• Community engagement, and
• Data and information systems.

Click here to learn more.

Health in All Policies in California

Growing recognition of the influence of the social, physical and economic environments on community health has given rise to an approach to urban and regional planning called “Health in All Policies.”  In line with strategies such as health impact assessment or including health elements in comprehensive plans, the “health in all policies” approach weaves a focus on health priorities and considerations into policy decisions across a wide spectrum of issues.  The health in all policies approach recognizes the links between housing, transportation, economic development, urban planning and other issues, and is a key opportunity for increasing achieving healthier, more equitable communities. 

The State of California is currently exploring strategies for integrating health into all policies.  On February 23, 2010, Governor Schwarzenegger signed Executive Order S-04-10, which  establishes a Health in All Policies (HiAP) Task Force under the auspices of the Strategic Growth Council.  The purpose of the Task Force is “to identify priority programs, policies, and strategies to improve the health of Californians while advancing the Strategic Growth Council’s goals of improving air and water quality, protecting natural resources and agricultural lands, increasing the availability of affordable housing, improving infrastructure systems, promoting public health, planning sustainable communities, and meeting the state’s climate change goals.”  While the SGC has already taken important steps to coordinate the efforts of its multiple member agencies and has included health considerations in important work to date, the HiAP Task Force provides an opportunity to focus on the breadth of State policies which impact health.

PolicyLink serves as an advisor to the Task Force, providing guidance and recommendations to identify effective policy approaches to include health and equity goals, and to increase community participation.  Relevant resources are available below.

• Recommendations on the Task Force’s November 1, 2010 list of draft recommendations to the Strategic Growth Council. 
• What is a Healthy Community? Framework, developed by the California Department of Public Health with input from advisors
• More information on the HiAP Task Force and its efforts, from the Strategic Growth Council

Healthy Eating Active Communities (HEAC)

Childhood obesity threatens the health and futures of our young people. Today, more than 23 million children and adolescents in the United States—nearly one in three young people—are either obese or overweight, putting them at higher risk for serious, even life-threatening health problems. If we don't reverse the epidemic, the current generation of young people could be the first in U.S. history to live sicker and die younger than their parent's generation.

To combat childhood obesity, groups have formed coalitions throughout California to increase access to healthy food and physical activity. The Healthy Eating Active Communities program, or HEAC, located in six locations -- Baldwin Park, Los Angeles; Chula Vista, San Diego County; Oakland, Alameda County; Santa Ana, Orange County; South LA, Los Angeles County; South Shasta County, Shasta County -- encourages policies that will reduce the risk factors for diabetes and obesity. These include:

• Maximizing opportunities for joint use to allow public access to school grounds, parks, and open fields;
  
• Urging healthcare facilities to promote healthy eating and physical activity;
  
• Arranging for community institutions to provide free or low-cost childhood obesity prevention and weight management programs;
  
• Converting corner stores to sell and prominently feature fruits and vegetables;
  

As a technical advisor, PolicyLink works with HEAC to train advocates on how to improve neighborhood conditions.

Other projects in the areas of land use and health equity include:

• The Health Eating Active Living Convergence;
• The Robert Wood Johnson Center for the Prevention of Childhood Obesity;
• Programs to improve access to healthy foods; and,
• Devising new strategies for addressing the inequities faced by unincorporated communities in the San Joaquin Valley.