Toward Healthy Cities. People, Places, the Politics of Urban Planning and Power

Excerpt

Toward the Healthy City by Jason Coburn offers an interesting journey through the history of planning and public health in the United States, by examining the common ground of health and social justice, as well as the forces and circumstances responsible for the disconnect between the fields during the 20th century. The book provides concrete evidence for the need to reconnect the fields to address the systemic failure and health crises in today’s cities. The author suggests a new decision-making framework and explores how public health and planning agencies along with community-based coalitions in the San Francisco Bay Area are currently redefining environmental health policies to improve the health of both people and places. The book herewith moves beyond much contemporary research that tends to document problems in cities, and in particular in poor neighborhoods and communities, without examining the political and administrative changes in municipal government and governance. …