New book: The Built Environment and Public Health

A new 429-page paperback, The Built Environment and Public Health, by Russell P. Lopez, tells how community design and other facets of the built environment affect people’s health. The book, organized primarily with students in mind, points out that “for several decades, public health and urban planning were distinct and separate.”

That division has crumbled as public health experts confronted the growing epidemic of obesity, says Lopez, a teacher and writer with a doctorate in environmental health from Boston University. “[T]he disciplines of urban planning and public health each began to embrace procedures and principles of the other.” The book is intended for people in both disciplines, plus nonspecialists who want to learn about health and the built environment.

Many Americans think that non-urban areas are healthier place to live, Lopez notes. “Actually,” he says, “evidence suggests that rural living is less healthy than urban living despite the noise, crowding, and congestion of cities.”  Lopez assesses the built environment from three main perspectives: health, sustainability, and equity. The text is organized according to a model curriculum developed by Nisha Botchwey and others.