TL;DR
Sustainable urban planning should tie engineering, zoning, and infrastructure to community health needs.
Sustainable urban planning can improve public health.
Public health has historically been kept in its own department, separate from the teams working on infrastructure. A better approach, however, is to begin each project with a review of the health needs of that neighborhood. In this way, sustainabe urban planning can make a beneficial impact on the most prevalent illnesses in each locality.
Connect engineering with human health.
Population health data can be used to guide infrastructure design. For instance, if heat-related illness is increasing, projects can be designed to provide shade. Native plants can also be used to create cooler air through evapotranspiration. If there are high numbers of people with diabetes or heart disease, designing to increase walkability can have significant health benefits. And if some areas have higher levels of industry or pollution from traffic, plans can be drawn up to provide native plant buffers that will filter the air.
Target zoning to needs of vulnerable populations.
Simple changes to zoning regulations can make life easier for people who are struggling. If food insecurity is a problem in a specific neighborhood, review your zoning to see if there are prohibitions on planting on sidewalk strips. By allowing community gardens or planting of fruit trees in these spaces, food becomes more available. Zoning to allow community and rooftop gardens can also serve to alleviate hunger. In communities where people are suffering from heat but cannot afford the cost of running their air conditioning, zoning can permit balcony solar panels to offset that expense.
Adapt infrastructure to support the ecosystem.
Human health is supported by health of the overall ecosystem. If the soil and plants and wildlife are healthy, the odds are the humans will be healthy, too. Green infrastructure that emphasizes native plants in rain gardens, bioswales, and retention ponds also benefits local ecology. These projects provide habitat for other living beings, they replenish the groundwater, all while adding beauty to our neighborhoods..
Public health and ecology are foundational to sustainable urban planning.
Every neighborhood has its own health needs and its own ecology. Sustainable urban planning should begin with a focus on these areas and design from there. This is the only way to ensure the most impactful interventions are built into the plans from the beginning.
Photo by Zach Rowlandson on Unsplash