Designing Healthy Communities
1. Auflage Dezember 2011
288 Seiten, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
Designing Healthy Communities, the companion book to the acclaimed public television documentary, highlights how we design the built environment and its potential for addressing and preventing many of the nation's devastating childhood and adult health concerns. Dr. Richard Jackson looks at the root causes of our malaise and highlights healthy community designs achieved by planners, designers, and community leaders working together. Ultimately, Dr. Jackson encourages all of us to make the kinds of positive changes highlighted in this book. 2012 Nautilus Silver Award Winning Title in category of "Social Change"
In this book, Dr. Jackson explores how the built environment has contributed to the fact that two-thirds of Americans are overweight, 70 million are obese and many suffer from an array of other chronic but preventable diseases. The book and series looks upstream at the root causes of our malaise, and highlights actionable best practices based on real people with real solutions.
Public health has traditionally associated the built environment with issues such as poor sanitation, lead paint poisoning and children, workplace safety, fire codes and access for persons with disabilities. We now realize that how we design the built environment may hold tremendous potential for addressing---and hopefully preventing---many of the nation's current public health concerns.
The Designing Healthy Communities book offers a new perspective on the topics covered in each episode while providing a roadmap and tools for readers to effect similar positive change in their own communities.Dr. Jackson is a vibrant public speaker, highly skilled at distilling ideas to a simple and understandable conversation. Unlike textbooks on the topic, this book seeks to feel more like a conversation between Dr. Jackson and the many people he has met along the road. Through stories and examples, he will encourage readers to consider their own experience and why taking initiative to make positive change in society is important.
Part 1 - Living and Leading With Purpose: Introduces the major themes that guide Dick Jackson's life and work. This section sets the stage and provides a context for understanding specific actions. In each thematic area, we move from the specific (ourselves and those close to us) to the broader view.
Chapter 1: What Does Caritas Have to Do With the Built Environment?
Chapter 2: What is Health and How Do We Measure It?
Chapter 3: Can Built Environment Build Community
Part 2 - A Legacy in Concrete: Each chapter details a place where Dick Jackson's ideas have been manifested. Each chapter reviews the community in the style of a medical case study: symptoms, diagnosis, cure, and prevention. This is the nuts-and-bolts of Dr. Jackson's view of public health is manifested in specific locations.
Chapter 4: From Monoculture to Human Culture - curing social and environmental malnutrition: Belmar, Colorado
Chapter 5: Using the Principles of New Urbanism to Build Community Prairie Crossing, Illinois
Chapter 6: Saving America's downtown and local history through the political process: Charleston, South Carolina
Chapter 7: Reinventing a City through Community Leadership for Sustainability: a vital part of sustainability is being healthy: Elgin, Illinois
Chapter 8: Ending Car Captivity - Leadership Paths to Culture: Boulder, Colorado
Chapter 9: Ports Are Rest Stops Along the Global Highway: Oakland, California
Chapter 10: The city that won't give up - entrepreneurship and urban agriculture: Detroit, Michigan
Part 3 - Be The Change You Want to See in the World: This section makes the case that the reader can use Dick Jackson's vision and tools to effect similar improvements in their own communities. Chapters examine how to effect change through the power of one person leading groups with purpose and working effectively to engage others. We introduce the different stakeholders in a community (government agencies, NGOs, parents, children, businesses, professionals, etc.) and discuss how they work together to achieve results.
Chapter 11: What's Happening in Your Community?
Chapter 12: Who Are the Players?
Chapter 13: Create an Action Plan
Epilogue: You are Dick Jackson
Anthony Iton
Preface ix
The Author xvii
Prologue: Why I Care About the Built Environment xix
PART I. HEALTH AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT: AN INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1 What Does Love, or Caritas, Have to Do with the Built Environment? 3
We Love Our Families and Our Country, but Do We Really Love Ourselves? 4
For Love of Family 6
For Love of Community 7
For Love of Our Nation and the World 14
Chapter 2 What Is Health, and How Do We Measure It? 15
Personal Health 17
Public Health Policy 23
Environmental Health 28
Mental and Social Health 30
Chapter 3 Can the Built Environment Build Community? 35
Organic Places Are Healthy Places 36
Urban Centers 41
State and Nation 45
PART II. EXAMPLES OF CHANGE
Chapter 4 From Monoculture to Human Culture: the Belmar district of Lakewood, Colorado 53
Symptoms 54
Diagnosis 60
Cure 62
Prevention 64
Chapter 5 Using New Urbanism Principles to Build Community: Prairie Crossing, Illinois 67
Symptoms 69
Diagnosis 70
Cure 73
Prevention 77
Chapter 6 Saving America's Downtowns and Local History Through the Political Process: Charleston, South Carolina 79
Symptoms 80
Diagnosis 82
Cure 86
Prevention 88
Chapter 7 Reinventing a Healthy City Through Community Leadership for Sustainability: Elgin, Illinois 91
Symptoms 92
Diagnosis 94
Cure 98
Prevention 104
Chapter 8 Ending Car Captivity: Boulder, Colorado 107
Symptoms 108
Diagnosis 110
Cure 115
Prevention 117
Chapter 9 Ports as Partners in Health: Oakland, California 119
Symptoms 120
Diagnosis 123
Cure 132
Prevention 135
Chapter 10 The City That Won't Give Up: Detroit, Michigan 139
Symptoms 140
Diagnosis 144
Cure (or at Least Treatment) 146
Prevention 155
PART III. BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD
Chapter 11 What's Happening in Your Community? 159
Determining the Health of Your Community 159
Conducting an Audit of Your Built Environment 166
Chapter 12 Who Are the Players? 175
Finding Your Stakeholders 178
Social Networking 187
Getting Everyone to Pull Together 188
Chapter 13 Create an Action Plan 189
Analyze the Symptoms 189
Determine the Diagnosis 194
Implement the Cure 195
Protect Through Prevention 206
Epilogue: Now It's Your Turn 207
Notes 213
Index 219
"It's called the 'built environment' and if you're a public health whiz, you know exactly what that means. If you don't, Dr. Richard Jackson, Chair of UCLA's Environmental Health Sciences Department believes it's critical you do." - The California Report health blog, KQED (San Francisco)
"An admirer of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Dr. Jackson argues that such details of daily life make existence worthwhile. And that is what "Designing Healthy Communities" is all about." - Reporting on Health (USC Annenberg)
"The new book, "Designing Healthy Communities," says: 'When there is nearly nothing within walking distance to interest a young person and it is near-lethal to bicycle, he or she must relinquish autonomy -- a capacity every creature must develop just as much as strength and endurance.'" - New York Times, January, 31, 2012
Stacy Sinclair, EdD, is director of education for Media Policy Center in Santa Monica, California, which produced the documentary Designing Healthy Communities. She also is cofounder of EdExcellence Consulting, Inc.