Abstract
The Built Environment Issue by Jessica Grossmeier, PhD, MPH
“Throughout human history, cities were built for people. Even in the 20th century, people could still use the streets.”
Hundreds of research articles support the influence of the physical built environment on health and well-being, yet many cities are designed in a way that make it harder than ever for people to make healthy lifestyle choices. As I was preparing this issue of The Art of Health Promotion (TAHP), I had the good fortune to attend a keynote presentation by Dr Jim Sallis at the Art and Science of Health Promotion conference in San Diego, California. As Dr Sallis is one of the world’s most cited authors in social science research with more than 600 published peer-reviewed papers and the steward of more than $100 million in research grants, I expected an academic presentation filled with public health statistics and research on why it is essential for communities to be designed to promote health. To be sure, there were some statistics and lots of evidence about the role of the physical built environment on health behaviors and outcomes. But I was delighted to experience Sallis’ passion for inciting policy makers, health professionals, businesses, urban planners, and community members to collaborate to build environments that support healthy living. His presentation began with a historical overview of how the world’s cities have devolved from places where people could be seen using the streets to actively commute on horses, on foot, on bicycles to streets largely designed as arteries of mass transit that edged out green space, sidewalks, and bicycle lanes in favor of more traffic lanes for cars. Case in point were the photographs of US postage stamps from the American landscapes series depicting residential subdivisions and highway interchanges as signs of progress to be celebrated.
What I most appreciated about Dr Sallis’ presentation was his many practical calls to action to those of us in attendance to translate the significant research about the physical, mental, social, environmental, safety, and economic benefits of health-promoting environments into evidence that is relevant to decision makers in a position to create more health-promoting spaces and places. Some of his suggestions were to create briefs, guidelines, and webinars for people in a position to influence the design of communities as well as the buildings and streets that comprise them. This includes educating the public using social media, lay summaries, and press releases. For the more entrepreneurial among us, he recommended creating a startup, a license, or a consulting practice to support businesses and consumers in the development of health-promoting spaces. The key is to move away from experts talking to experts and translating evidence into practice by moving information from subject matter experts to decision makers. To that end, this issue of TAHP identifies tools, resources, and case studies that can support professionals and community members seeking to influence policy makers, urban planners, and real estate developers to create spaces that foster health for all.