Zoning and public health: A Baltimore case ctudy

Zoning is one of a city's most powerful tools for shaping land use. Interestingly, zoning's power to shape private land comes from its mandate to promote health, safety, morals, or the general welfare of the community. Despite the centrality of “health” in the legal language, the presence of health in zoning decisions is often poorly defined, apparent via a limited definition of health or is of minimal importance. This gap between language and practice partly stems from the 19th century conception of disease that was transitioning from miasma to germ theory. While the definition of health has expanded over the years to include mental health, chronic illness, and susceptible populations, zoning policy has been slow to reflect this change. Given the scholarship on the role of the built and natural environment in determining one's health, zoning could play a more prominent role in promoting health than it currently does. With the historic relationship between zoning and health and the current comprehensive rezoning in Baltimore, Maryland, this talk will: 1.Trace the ways changing public health goals have and have not informed zoning codes; 2.Identify historic zoning decisions that now have an influence on Baltimore City's health; 3.Provide recommendations for how new zoning policy could better address public health goals; and 4. Highlight some of the challenges in pursuing such policy change.