Using Community-Identified Health and Environmental Indicators for Land Use Advocacy


Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

5098.0: Wednesday, December 14, 2005 - 1:42 PM

Abstract #116620

Margaret Gordon, West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project/Pacific Institute, 654 13th Street, Preservation Park, Oakland, CA 94612, 510.251.1600, margaretgordon@sbcglobal.net

Residents of West Oakland know that their overall health and quality of life are related to a wide variety of factors: socio-economic indicators, environmental and land use decisions are a few. Based on experience fighting industrial pollution, the community realized that non-health decisions at the city level could significantly impact the health of the community. Drawing on community knowledge of the interconnectedness of health with other neighborhood-level factors in 2000, West Oakland residents partnered with NGO's to create the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (WOEIP). Over the course of three years, the WOEIP Committee identified 17 indicators of environmental health and created the groundbreaking report “Neighborhood Knowledge for Change: The West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project”. As a community-based advocacy tool, the indicators measure asthma rates, air toxics, civic participation, vulnerability to displacement and lead poisoning. Recently, the Draft EIR for a proposed development in West Oakland excluded analysis of residential displacement and environmental health risks. Residents made the case for environmental mitigation, concluding that diesel construction equipment emissions were unacceptable additions to West Oakland's already overburdened community. To address the health threat of residential displacement, community members calculated how many fewer residents would be able to afford homes if market-price housing was developed, driving up property values and cost of living. Community members successfully won a recommendation for affordable housing from the Oakland Planning Commission, and have made a convincing argument for environmental mitigation. These West Oakland victories demonstrate the need for community voices in winning public health victories.

Learning Objectives:

To define evidence-based policy in West Oakland in relation to community-identified health risks resulting from land use practices in the area.

To explain how the process of an Environmental Impact Report placed the burden on the community of West Oakland to justify two key factors in the decision to approve or deny a zoning permit for a proposed residential development

To demonstrate ways in which West Oakland residents have been able to advocate for better land use decisions to protect public health.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

What and Who's Evidence Makes for Sound Policy?

The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA