Built Environments - Good for Your Health

Today, more and more people are beginning to realize how much of an impact the built environment

is actually having on our health. A built environment is basically the infrastructure and

physical structures of communities that are made by man. Since communities and commercial

developers are beginning to realize what a huge impact these built environments actually have on

health, more and more people are starting to alter parts of this built environment to help

improve the health of people who live in the areas. Since it is often the low-income areas that

are often hazards to health, and since they are usually less conducive to eating healthy and

being physically active, often these are the communities that have been changed by built

environments in order to help reduce health problems in America.

There are a variety of health problems that are caused by the environment, including problems

like asthma and diabetes. Decisions in the built environments, such as transportation, use of

land, zoning, and the design of the community influence a variety of things, such as the ability

to conveniently purchase foods that are healthy, the safety of the community, and the distance

that has to be traveled in order to get to work. All of these decisions have an impact on public

health, so when commercial developers make decisions about designs in communities, they should

be made with the health of the people in the community in mind.

Unfortunately, many commercial developers actually make decisions regarding the built

environment without taking health concerns into consideration, and public health is not actively

included in the plans at all. Of course in order to get the public health's participation, there

must be some examples that show that the built environment is important to health and there must

be the ability to show roles for public health in the development as well. If residential and

commercial developers can understand more about altering the built environment and improving the

health outcomes, it will help to link together those involved in community design, such as the

city planners, with public health.

There are several things that are key to a built environment that will help to reduce health

problems and make people in the community healthier. The following area few of these important

aspects:

- Environments that Promote Activities - This means that the built environment helps to foster

recreational activities and incidental activities as well.
- Environments Promoting Nutrition - These environments help to provide food that is

affordable, safe, and healthy.
- Housing - Offering the availability of housing that is available, affordable and safe.
- Transportation - Offering transportation that is reliable, easily accessible, safe, and

affordable as well to move people around the area.
- Environmental Quality - This includes clear air, clean soil, clean building materials, as

well as clean water.
- Availability of Products - This deals with the availability of health promoting and safe

products or unhealthy and unsafe products.
- Ambiance and Aesthetics - An environment that is appealing to the eye, very well maintained,

and clean as well.

All of these things are key when developing a built environment that is good for the health of

the people in the community. So, it is important that commercial developers keep these things in

mind when they are developing properties in communities. Today both planning commissions and

commercial developers are working hard together to come up with built environments that will

bring about communities that are much healthier. In fact, commercial developers are being

encouraged to create their Planned Unit Developments to support these healthy built

environments.

Environmental health is so important to our health, and the built environment has so much to do

with the health of the people in the area. All of the places where we live, play, shop, and even

where we work can affect the health of humans, not to mention the natural environment as well.

Where construction occurs as well as how it occurs can affect many things, such as natural

habitats, air quality inside and outside, energy use, and even ecosystem quality.

Today there are excellent EPA resources and programs that are available to help communities

across America to achieve great environmental benefits and economic benefits by using building

principles for built environments that are green, and also by preserving open space as well as

farmlands. Now an Energy Star home certification is available to promote household construction

that is more efficient and greener as well. The EPA is working with planners, officials,

designers, and commercial developers to help come up with a built environment that balances

environmental protection with development. Commercial developers and those they work with are

coming up with new built environments that offer better protection and better health for those

that live in the communities, by keeping open spaces, habitats, reusing lands, protecting air

quality, revitalizing land, and keeping water supplies protected as well.