Healthy built environment

Environmental design shapes access to facilities and services that impact health and wellbeing. Inclusive policies and community engagement ensure equitable access to places and services. Health and wellness are shaped by conditions in which people live, work, learn, rest, and play. Modifying the built environment can also help prevent injury.

Advice from authors on searching for information:

Utilize diverse sources when searching for information on services, spaces, and places that enhance everyone’s well-being. Engaging with academic journals, reputable websites, government publications, and expert opinions can provide comprehensive insights. Researchers and providers emphasize the importance of inclusive design principles and evidence-based practices to ensure community infrastructure is useable and beneficial to all members. Collaborating with local interest holders and conducting field studies can also yield valuable, context-specific information.

Organizations, repositories, websites, and other sources where you can find more information:

• The American Planning Association (APA). Provides guidelines and research on how urban design impacts health equity. Visit APA’s Planning and Community Health for more insights.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – Healthy Places. Offers resources and data on how community design affects public health.
• Trust for Public Land (TPL). Provides data and tools for assessing access to parks and green spaces. Their Parks for People initiative focuses on increasing equitable access to green spaces.
• National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA). Offers research and resources on the role of parks in community health. Access their Publications and Research page for data, publications, and more information.
• Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Provides data and resources on public transportation access, including how it impacts health equity.
• Smart Growth America. Focuses on transportation policies and their impact on equity.
• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Offers toolkits to improve housing affordability in Opportunity Zones.
• Walk Score. Measures walkability of neighborhoods.
• Safe Routes to School. Focuses on creating safe pathways for children to walk and bike to school.
• Health Impact Assessment. Provides tools and resources for assessing how community design decisions impact health.
• Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNA). Conducted by hospitals and public health departments, these assessments provide data on local health needs and disparities. Access CHNA reports through local health departments or hospitals.
• Social Determinants of Health Data. The CDC provides data on social determinants that influence health outcomes.

Challenges you may encounter while searching for information:

Overwhelming volume of data, varied definitions and standards, and the interdisciplinary nature of the field. Additionally, ensuring the credibility and relevance of sources while accounting for geographic and contextual variations can complicate the search process.

Articles, books, and other publications in translational science using the indicator:

• McCullogh E, Macpherson A, Hagel B, et al. Road safety, health equity, and the built environment: Perspectives of transport and injury prevention professionals in five Canadian municipalities. BMC Public Health. 2023;23:1211. doi:10.1186/s12889-023-16115-7.
• Frank LD, Iroz-Elardo N, MacLeod KE, Hong A. Pathways from built environment to health: A conceptual framework linking behavior and exposure-based impacts. Journal of Transport & Health. 2019;12:319-335. doi:10.1016/j.jth.2018.11.008.
• Fedorowicz M, Schilling J, Bramhall E, Bieretz B, Su Y, Brown KS. Leveraging the built environment for health equity. Urban Institute. Published online July 2020.
  • University of California, Santa Barbara. LibGuides: Well-being resources: Health equity & built environment books. Accessed May 27, 2025.
• Hammerschmidt S. The health equity imperative and the role of the built environment. In: Just T, Plößl F, eds. European cities after COVID-19: Strategies for resilient cities and real estate. Springer International Publishing. 2022;41-47. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-89788-8_3.
• Seyedrezaei M, Becerik-Gerber B, Awada M, Contreras S, Boeing G. Equity in the built environment: A systematic review. Building and Environment. 2023;245:110827. doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2023.110827.
• Laddu D, Paluch AE, LaMonte MJ. The role of the built environment in promoting movement and physical activity across the lifespan: Implications for public health. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases. 2021;64:33-40. doi:10.1016/j.pcad.2020.12.009.
• Bosch TCG, Wigley M, Colomina B, et al. The potential importance of the built-environment microbiome and its impact on human health. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2024;121(20):e2313971121. doi:10.1073/pnas.2313971121.
• Odoms-Young A, Brown AGM, Agurs-Collins T, Glanz K. Food insecurity, neighborhood food environment, and health disparities: State of the science, research gaps and opportunities. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2024;119(3):850-861. doi:10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.12.019.