Designing Healthy Communities

Designing Healthy Communities, the companion book to theacclaimed public television documentary, highlights how we designthe built environment and its potential for addressing andpreventing many of the nation's devastating childhood and adulthealth concerns. Dr. Richard Jackson looks at the root causes ofour malaise and highlights healthy community designs achieved byplanners, designers, and community leaders working together.Ultimately, Dr. Jackson encourages all of us to make the kinds ofpositive changes highlighted in this book. 2012 Nautilus SilverAward Winning Title in category of SocialChangeIn this book Dr. Jackson inhabits the frontier between publichealth and urban planning, offering us hopeful examples ofinnovative transformation, and ends with a prescription forindividual action. This book is a must read for anyone who caresabout how we shape the communities and the world that shapes us.--Will Rogers, president and CEO, The Trust for PublicLandWhile debates continue over how to design cities to promotepublic health, this book highlights the profound health challengesthat face urban residents and the ways in which certain aspects ofthe built environment are implicated in their etiology. Jacksonthen offers up a set of compelling cases showing how localactivists are working to fight obesity, limit pollution exposure,reduce auto-dependence, rebuild economies, and promote communityand sustainability. Every city planner and urban designer shouldread these cases and use them to inform their everydaypractice.--Jennifer Wolch, dean, College of EnvironmentalDesign, William W. Wurster Professor, City and Regional Planning,UC BerkeleyDr. Jackson has written a thoughtful text that illustrates howand why building healthy communities is the right prescription forAmerica.--Georges C. Benjamin, MD, executive director, AmericanPublic Health AssociationPublisher Companion Web site: www.josseybass.com/go/jacksonAdditional media and content:http://dhc.mediapolicycenter.org/