Urban Farming

Previously, we discussed how many people in inner cities do not have access to quality, fresh foods. ​As metropolitan areas continue to sprawl outwards it turns local farmland into subdivisions and asphalt, eliminating the ability for a community to provide its own food. There are several ways communities are trying to combat this problem through farmers’ markets and healthy corner stores. An increasing popular approach is through “urban farming.” Using small vacant lots and rooftops for farming gives easy access to locally grown healthy foods and has environmental benefits.

urban roof top farm
Photo Courtesy of: sustainablesouthsound.org

The benefits of urban farming go beyond creating a healthy, local food source as detailed in this report for Boston. Farming creates dozens of direct, local jobs as well as hundreds of indirect jobs. The increased city greenery reduces greenhouse gas emissions and lowers a city’s heat-island effect. Best of all this is accomplished by utilizing previously unused urban land and rooftops.

Farming in Chicago has had more benefits than expected. Not only has the farming been used to change eating habits it has also impacted people’s lives. Farming has been an educational tool to teach families where their food comes from. Many of those who have worked on the farm have also started their own gardens at home and many have started up at local schools.

In Hawaii 80-90% of the food consumed is not produced on island, meaning it traveled thousands of miles to get to our plate. Food that travels is less fresh and costs more due to shipping and preservation costs (not to mention the impact transit has on our environment).  An upcoming documentary “Ingredients Hawaii” looks at our food system in Hawaii and ways to encourage more local food production for the people who live here.

​If you want learn more about urban farming in your neighborhood and to get involved look up and see if there is a Food Policy Council in your area. ​A Food Policy Council is an organized group of various stakeholders, policy makers, food producers and consumers, who evaluate the needs of their community. The goal of most Food Policy Councils is to create sustainable food systems.

A Field Guide to Sprawl

A Field Guide to Sprawl
By: Dolores Hayden (Jim Wark, Photographer)

This is a fun little book that defines 51 different aspects of urban sprawl. The author, Dolores Hayden, replaces the technical jargon of architects and urban planners with common terms like “snout house” “zoomburb” and “duck.” She suggests that by using these simple terms people can identify sprawl in their own communities and thus better understand what causes it. While the terms in the book are unique and novel we doubt that we will be using them any time soon. While the terms are a bit difficult to put into use the ideas behind each term are great. This book introduced us to many aspects of sprawl that we may not otherwise have recognized. The book is a quick, easy read. Just as one would expect of a “field guide” each spread of pages defines a single term in alphabetical order, in one or two small paragraphs. Amazing aerial photographs compliment each term and paints a clear picture on each specific definition. The author wishes that everybody keep a copy of this book in their glove department (no doubt trying to boost her sales) so that the next time you are experiencing “gridlock” you will quickly be able to find which aspect of sprawl is to blame. We do not see a need for everyone to buy this book although it is nice reference material. Our official recommendation is READ.

Public Health and Urban Sprawl

In addition to our weekly posts we will also occasionally submit book reviews that deal with our subject matter. The purpose of these reviews is simply to share with you what we have read and give recommendations to guide your own reading choices. Instead of giving a traditional rating (4 stars out of 5) we’ll give you one of three recommendations: “Buy”, “Read”, or “Leave.” For us book reviews have been helpful for us to decide what books we want to read next and hopefully we can do that for you. Please note that these reviews are only our opinion and we do not benefit in any way from them or any purchase of a book. Our first book review is Urban Sprawl and Public Health, an obvious place for us to start.

Public Health and Urban Sprawl:
Designing, Planning, and Building for Healthy Communities
By: Howard Frumkin, Lawrence Frank, and Dr. Richard J. Jackson

Public Health and Urban Sprawl: Designing, Planning, and Building for Healthy Communities, the title says it all. This book is a must read for anyone in public health or urban planning and is a good read for everyone else. Public health officials want to create healthy communities and this book shows that collaboration with Urban Planning can do this. The book starts out by explaining what urban sprawl is, how, and why it started. It then goes into the effects that urban sprawl has on our communities and how that in turn has affected our health and well-being. It is relatively easy to read and understand and is full of research and studies on each topic making the authors’ arguments evidence based. The book covers a variety of topics including: air quality, physical activity, water quality and more. The book is a little lengthy but only because it covers so many diverse and important topics. The authors’ conclude the book by suggesting answers to the problem of urban sprawl. This book is full of research and studies and serves as a good reference to have on hand. Our official recommendation is BUY.

The Choice to be Healthy

The problem is choice. More specifically, a lack of choice. People do not choose unhealthiness, their environment does not offer them a better alternative. Poor transportation and land use practices leads to vehicle dependency, pedestrian unfriendly streets, a lack of public parks, and improper food choices.

Planners and city government must decide the best uses for land. With limited budgets, this often means overlooking nontaxable parks and nature trails for revenue generating chain stores and private transportation. However, their nearsighted, money driven approach fails to account for the health and economic value to providing residents with better options. These poor planning practices generally lead to unhealthy, unsafe, and unsightly places such as the one seen below, a common site all across America.

Typical vehicle-oriented city, USA
Photo curtsey of http://www.pedbikeimages.org / Dan Burden

Towns and neighborhoods that do not offer their residents better choices can have implications on public health. Pedestrian friendly streets and safe outdoor public recreation have many benefits for a community including increased social capital and access to free and convenient physical activity. Without the options to safely walk, bike, and use public transit, communities will become vehicle dependent, promoting a lazy lifestyle and dependence on drive-in food options which are rarely healthy.

As with outdoor recreation the same is true for grocery stores, they offer healthy options (preferable local) for the community, but simply having these services is not enough. Grocery stores are only fully beneficially when they accessible which means they are well-connected through all modes of transit. Planners must provide access to parks and services for everyone in the community, no matter their location or age.

The goal is to make the healthy choice the easy choice. To give all citizens access to public services and local businesses regardless of their economic or social background. Urban planners and government officials need to develop for the good of the people, not just to make a quick buck.

Walkable neighborhood in Portland, Oregon
Photo curtsey of http://www.pedbikeimages.org / Andy Hamilton

Public Health + Urban Planning

The main focus of this blog is to explore the connection between public health and urban planning. These two diverse fields have a direct relationship with one another, which is often overlooked. Historically these two disciplines have operated independently, without collaboration. We believe that we can form healthier, more fulfilling future for our communities through the integration and application of these two fields. The following chart shows the relationship between public health and urban planning and how they have a continual direct effect on one another.

Urban planning is the process that regulates development in neighborhoods, cities, and regions. Planners deal with all the components that make up a metro region; transportation systems, the economy, natural resources, urban design, and physical facilities. These all come together to define our cities.

Our built environment influences behavior and choices of people based on what is available and convenient. In turn this can shape our lifestyles and health outcomes.

Public health is the well-being of society. It creates community-based strategies to prevent disease and promote health. It studies how the environment and our behavior impacts our livelihood and health. Our behaviors are also influenced by our environment.

Studying the trends of public health in cities helps find the causes of disease. Applying this knowledge helps create new community policies, building codes, and changes the practice of urban planning.

This connection is gaining traction and now many universities are beginning see the value of offering dual degrees in Public Health and Urban Planning. According to this report from the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) on Urban Planning and Public Heath “Urban planning and public health share common missions and perspectives. Both aim to improve human well-being, emphasize needs assessment and service delivery, manage complex social systems, focus at the population level, and rely on community-based participatory methods.”

What is Urban Planning?

Urban planning is the process that regulates development in neighborhoods, cities, and regions. It is commonly thought that planners deal solely with zoning issues, what and where building can occur, but it is as broad and diverse a field as the cities it shapes. Urban planners are professionals belonging to the American Planning Association. They deal with all the components that make up a metro region; transportation systems, the economy, natural resources, urban design, and physical facilities among others. With so many components to consider, planners must take a comprehensive approach to envision how all these different elements will compliment each other as they shape our cities. Urban planning also factors in time and how current trends and building practices will affect the built environment today and into the future. The following photo is an example of a rough draft for an urban planning project.

sample urban design

TYPES OF PLANNERS

Being such a broad field, many planners chose to specialize in a particular area. These are just a few examples of the areas an urban planner could choose to work in.

Land use: The most common type of urban planner and what many will imagine when they hear ‘urban planner.’ Responsible for designating areas for development and preservation.

Environmental: Manages and studies how future development will affect our natural resources. Promotes sustainable approaches to regional development.

Transportation: Deals with all modes of transit and their functionality and connectivity. Evaluates network effectiveness and works to ease congestion.

Urban Design: Designs streetscapes and neighborhoods to shape and define how an area will look and feel once developed. An increasingly important field as cities strive to protect or define their unique sense of place.

HISTORY OF URBAN PLANNING

Urban planning and public health have a close history as both professions spawned during the 19th century in response to social and economic crises. Overcrowding, air pollution, sewage, and proper sanitation were all issues that plagued cities of this era and demanded action. Developers built planned communities in the suburbs of Chicago and London had an emphasis on parks and outdoor living to reduce these problems. The first zoning codes of the early 20th century separated undesired uses like garment lofts and factories from residential and commercial areas. Today, most industries and services are no longer such heavy polluters allowing revision of traditional zoning codes  to encourage mixed-use development. The future of urban planning has great potential as smart growth, new urbanism, and complete street policies gain acceptance and a greater importance is placed on public health.

Mission Statement, Part 2

As a followup to our first post, Part 2 is the second half of our mission statement and can always be viewed on our Mission Page. Our purpose with issuing a mission statement is to be upfront and honest with our readers about our goals and objectives.

WHAT WE WILL DO

1. PROMOTE public health and urban planning
2. TEACH communities how they are affected
3. GIVE perspective on current events and projects
4. LEARN through discussions with our readers
5. INFORM about our growing careers

WHAT WE WILL NOT DO

1. Have a political AGENDA
2. Ask for MONEY
3. Support ADVERTISEMENTS
4. Encourage UNHEALTHY lifestyles

Mission Statement, Part 1

Aloha everyone,

We are Michelle Conway and Brent Wozniak, welcome to our blog. We are two young professionals that work for the State of Hawaii and we are very passionate about what we do. You can learn more about us on The Authors page. Our first two posts make up our mission statement which you can view on our Mission page.

The Vision

Planforthepublic.com is intended to create and lead a discussion on the link between public health and urban planning. Throughout our education and careers we have continued to notice the ever-growing relationship between these two fields and how it is often overlooked by the public and policy makers. Our intent is to raise public awareness about how these fields are important and how they impact everyday life and shape the world around us.