• The potential of mixed-use health districts

    Experts discuss hospital-oriented development and its dramatic potential to transform cities big and small.
    Hospitals are economic anchors in both large cities and smaller communities, employing 6.7 million people and generating $900 billion in revenue a year, nationwide 1 . While medical centers contribute substantially to jobs and wealth, they typically generate an automobile-oriented built environment...Read more

  • Healthy communities explained in three steps

    University of Miami Professor Joanna Lombard lists the elements of healthy communities—and reports how the built environment may lead to physical and mental wellness through social interaction, physical activity, and connection to nature.
    Three key aspects to cities and towns have a big impact on community and individual health, according to Joanna Lombard of the University of Miami School of Architecture. Lombard summarizes the research on healthy communities in a video interview with urban planner Victor Dover: The greatest...Read more

  • Community plan builds on success of food kitchen

    A team of new urbanists design for a neighborhood in the crosshairs of gentrification, adding healthy food and affordable housing.
    Building on a successful nonprofit food kitchen, the Highland neighborhood in Gastonia, North Carolina, is planning to grow in a healthy and walkable way as gentrification pressure mounts. Located northwest of downtown, Highland is home to 5,000 mostly African-American residents. A team of new...Read more

  • The life-saving benefits of street trees

    A US Forest Service study indicates that street trees save lives and provide direct health benefits that far outweigh the costs of planting and maintenance.
    The planting of street trees may be more beneficial than previously thought. Street trees have long been connected to many positive outcomes —from reducing urban heat islands, to improving traffic safety, to cutting air pollution and raising property values—but researchers at the Portland Forestry...Read more