Neighborhood and Community Design
Creating neighborhoods and environments that promote health and safety is one of the nation's Healthy People 2030 goals. The environment in which we live, work, and play is closely associated with our health and our ability to live a low carbon lifestyle. Parks and green space access is one example of a community design element that benefits both climate and health. It improves health by offering opportunities for physical activity and improving air quality while offering a mental health benefit. It helps address climate change by being a carbon sink and increasing extreme heat and flood resilience.
Other design elements that have climate and health benefits are bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure; street connectivity and density; mixed use zoning and buildings; and green building and housing design, construction, and remodeling. Communities that plan for these design elements become healthier, contribute less to climate change, and may be more resilient to climate related extreme weather events.
Potential Benefits of Healthy Community Design
- People being more physically active.
- Improved air quality.
- Fewer traffic crashes.
- People connecting with one another socially.
- People being able to age where they live without having to move.
- People or families being able to live in safe, affordable places.
- Reduced carbon intensity.
Some Features of Healthy Community Designs
- Safe and easy pathways on which people can walk and bike.
- Nearby parks, trails, and open areas that are easy to get to.
- Nearby places—such as schools, workplaces, faith centers, parks, stores, and hospitals—where people can easily walk, roll, or bike to.
- Safe street design.
- Mass transit that is safe and easy to use, on which people can rely.
- Available housing for people of all income levels.
Resources on Healthy Community Design
Making Green Building Practices Mainstream, Department of Ecology (PDF)
Plan4Health, American Planning Association
Community Efforts
Climate Action Plans, Municipal Research and Services Center
Community Resilience Planning, US Climate Resilience Toolkit
Preparing for Climate Change: A Guidebook for Local, Regional, and State Governments, UW
Climate Planning under the Growth Management Act, WA Department of Commerce