Urban Sprawl and Public Health: Designing, Planning, and Building for Healthy Communities

by Howard Frumkin, Lawrence D. Frank, Richard J. Jackson

In Urban Sprawl and Public Health , Howard Frumkin, Lawrence Frank, and Richard Jackson, three of the nation's leading public health and urban planning experts explore an intriguing How does the physical environment in which we live affect our health? For decades, growth and development in our communities has been of the low-density, automobile-dependent type known as sprawl. The authors examine the direct and indirect impacts of sprawl on human health and well-being, and discuss the prospects for improving public health through alternative approaches to design, land use, and transportation. Urban Sprawl and Public Health offers a comprehensive look at the interface of urban planning, architecture, transportation, community design, and public health. It summarizes the evidence linking adverse health outcomes with sprawling development, and outlines the complex challenges of developing policy that promotes and protects public health. Anyone concerned with issues of public health, urban planning, transportation, architecture, or the environment will want to read Urban Sprawl and Public Health .

Genres: Urban Planning, Nonfiction, Urbanism, Urban Studies, Sociology, Urban, Health

368 pages, Paperback

First published July 9, 2004

Reviews

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book made me think about things that I had never considered. It made me wish for better city planning and more walkability in neighborhoods. It contained a lot of facts and numbers that weren't interesting or necessary for the average reader to be able to understand the point. I think perhaps it was written more for people researching the subject or otherwise wanting to delve more into it. Still, I was glad that I read it.

[Jason Wang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was an excellent book that is still relevant almost 20 years since it was first published. Given that we know so much more about car dependence and health, I would love to see a new edition, but I think probably a lot of the conclusions were already spot on in 2004. I thought particularly interesting were the chapters on the effects of sprawl on children's growth and independence, social capital/engagement, as well as the nitty gritty sections on the various types of pollution and watershed issues caused by sprawl development. One interesting insight I hadn't really considered is maybe Americans just like to live this way. I think it's more likely that market manipulation and incentives have driven us to live in this way, but there was interesting data in the book that a sizable minority of Americans simply prefer to not walk more than a few hundred feet at a time. Maybe as a nation we just have so much space and money that we've done what most other developed nations could not do. It's a scary thought if our current pattern of sprawl development and resource consumption reflects actual deeply ingrained preferences, though I suspect that in reality, NIMBYism / fighting against density and infill development, regressive tax policies, and other factors simply make sprawl the only housing choice for most.

[Gabriel Casagrande · Rating 5 out of 5]

Livro de agradável e engrandecedora leitura. Embora já saibamos, no senso comum, que o espraiamento é prejudicial à saúde das pessoas e da cidade, os autores vão um pouco além, levantando aspectos da saúde que muitas vezes não havíamos tomado consciência. O livro é um bom sumário que pode auxiliar em debates e pesquisas futuros. Embora tenham se proposto no início do livro a não enviesar a discussão da questão, com a leitura fica muito claro qual é sua posição, principalmente no último capítulo, sobre o Smart Growth. Mesmo trabalhando um tema já batido, gostei bastante

[Amy Do · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a very good, comprehensive summary of the different aspects of public health relating to sprawl. It is enough to gain an appreciation of how complicated some health issues are, and also how difficult it is to measure and disentangle certain issues from others. There is not simple, easy solution, therefore our communities have to always strive to develop healthier lifestyles and support infrastructure that enable healthier choices.

[Rubén · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a good introductory book for the Healthy City concept

[Christian M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provided some interesting insights and serves as good reference material.

[Courtney · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was irritating. The author's general point that we should walk more, cities could be planned better and that well done planning can lead to positive health outcomes is good and I agree with this. However, his support and arguments were consistently flawed. He only presented the negative side of cars and the suburbs but rarely if ever showed how life was better in the cities or via public transit. I spent the entire book waiting for him to propose a plausible solution but no solution ever arose. I think it's easy to be critical but without having an answer of your own your point is worthless and therefore I felt frustrated with this book and think there was a world of room for improvement.

[Jonathan]

Frumpkin gave a great lecture at UW a couple years ago, complete with slides of pedestrian-unfriendly Atlanta locations (many of which I recognized!). His conclusions about the affects of urban sprawl on physical health were not surprising. The implications for child development and social health are less obvious and just as dire.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

As suggested in the foreword, it's a great primer on urban planning for science folks, and a great public health primer for urban planning folks. It's a very quick read.