Urban sprawl and public health : designing, planning, and building for healthy communities

Urban Sprawl and Public Health offers a comprehensive look atthe interface of urban planning, architecture, transportation,community design, and public health. It summarizes the evidence linkingadverse health outcomes with sprawling development, and outlines thecomplex challenges of developing policy that promotes and protectspublic health. Anyone concerned with issues of public health, urbanplanning, transportation, architecture, or the environment will want toread Urban Sprawl and Public Health.

Author Notes

Howard Frumkin is Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health. He is an internist, epidemiologist, and environmental and occupational medicine specialist. He received his MD from the University of Pennsylvania and his Masters and Doctoral degrees in Public Health from Harvard.

Larry Frank is Bombadier Chair in Sustainable Transportation Systems at the School of Community and Regional Planning at the University of British Columbia. He recently left the Georgia Institute of Technology where he was an assistant professor in the City Planning Program. He is a registered landscape architect and holds a master in Civil Engineering Transportation Planning and a Ph.D. in Urban Design and Planning from the University of Washington.

Richard Jackson is Director of the National Center for Environmental Health at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta. He is also Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Rollins School of Public Health. He is a MD and holds a Masters in Public Health.

Reviews 1

Choice Review

Frumkin (environmental and occupational health, Emory Univ.), Frank (community and regional planning, Univ. of British Columbia), and Jackson (public health officer, California Department of Public Health) compellingly argue that urban sprawl contributes significantly to the degradation of public health. Low densities, segregated land uses, and poorly connected streets increase dependence on the automobile. The resulting decline in physical activity increases the incidence of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and obesity. As walking gives way to driving, fewer opportunities for social interaction diminish the sense of community and increase the prevalence of mental health problems such as depression. Longer commutes lead to more traffic accidents, elevated stress levels, and the deterioration of environmental quality. Well-written, this book's most important contribution is its success in raising awareness of the unintended consequences of different development patterns. However, this reviewer has two concerns: (1) most of the research findings discussed throughout the book (not all of which, by the way, support its basic premise) are not critically evaluated by the authors; and (2) the focus on health issues biases the authors' assessment of the overall impact of sprawl, e.g., failing to acknowledge the economic rationale for zoning understates the social benefits of segregating land uses. Extensive bibliography; copious endnotes. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Public, academic, and professional library collections. J. H. Turek Lynchburg College

Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xix
Chapter 1 What Is Sprawl? What Does It Have to Do with Health?	p. 1
Defining and Measuring Sprawl	p. 3
Core Concepts: Land Use and Transportation	p. 5
Varieties of Sprawl	p. 15
The Subjective Experience of Sprawl	p. 19
Overview of This Book	p. 22
Chapter 2 The Origins of Sprawl	p. 26
Transportation	p. 27
The Pull of the Suburbs	p. 28
Expanding Cities: From Growth to No Growth	p. 34
The Automobile Age	p. 35
Zoning	p. 36
Federal Housing Policy and Suburban Growth	p. 38
Urban Sprawl in the Postwar Years	p. 39
Conclusion	p. 42
Chapter 3 The Evolution of Urban Health	p. 44
Urban Pestilence and Filth	p. 46
Industrial Pollution in Cities	p. 57
The Social Pathology of City Life	p. 61
The Future of Urban Health	p. 64
Chapter 4 Air Quality	p. 65
Land Use, Transportation, Air Quality, and Health: A Model	p. 65
Travel Behavior, Emissions, and Air Quality	p. 68
Air Quality and Public Health	p. 79
Conclusion	p. 89
Chapter 5 Physical Activity, Sprawl, and Health	p. 90
The Varieties of Physical Activity	p. 92
The Health Benefits of Physical Activity	p. 94
Physical Activity and the Built Environment	p. 97
Limits to What We Know	p. 105
Conclusion	p. 107
Chapter 6 Injuries and Deaths from Traffic	p. 109
Motor Vehicle Crashes	p. 110
Pedestrian Injuries and Fatalities	p. 113
The Risk of Leaving Home	p. 121
Chapter 7 Water Quantity and Quality With Steve Gaffield	p. 123
Water and Health: An Overview	p. 123
The Hydrology of Sprawl	p. 126
Sprawl and Water Quality	p. 131
Conclusion	p. 135
Chapter 8 Mental Health	p. 137
The Mental Health Benefits of Sprawl	p. 138
The Mental Health Costs of Sprawl	p. 139
Driving and Mental Health	p. 140
Sprawl and Mental Health: The Big Picture	p. 158
Chapter 9 Social Capital, Sprawl, and Health	p. 161
What Is Social Capital?	p. 161
The Decline of Social Capital	p. 165
Does Social Capital Affect Health?	p. 166
Does Sprawl Undermine Social Capital?	p. 171
The Role of Income Inequality	p. 180
Conclusion	p. 184
Chapter 10 Health Concerns of Special Populations	p. 186
Women	p. 186
Children	p. 188
The Elderly	p. 195
Poor People and People of Color	p. 197
People with Disabilities	p. 199
Conclusion	p. 200
Chapter 11 From Urban Sprawl to Health for All	p. 201
Healthy Places	p. 202
Smart Growth	p. 204
Limits to Smart Growth	p. 213
A Public Health Approach to Smart Growth	p. 216
A Shared Vision: Land Use and Transportation for Public Health	p. 220
Conclusion	p. 221
Notes	p. 223
Bibliography	p. 279
Index	p. 325

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Table of Contents