Strategies to address health disparities, and healthy communities and lifestyles through built environment improvements

This paper was prepared by the Federal Collaborative on Health Disparities Research (FCHDR) - Built Environment Workgroup to address research needs and gaps to eliminate built environment disparities in disadvantaged and vulnerable communities. It covers disproportionate environmental and community hazards, individual and cumulative risks, social welfare, poverty, and associated built environment disparities including access to healthy foods, poor housing, contaminants, disproportionate exposure risks, and pre-existing conditions. It links sustainable land use (including smart growth) equitable reinvestment, green building and transportation accommodations to healthier, more active lifestyles. The paper also addresses how FCHDR can help mobilize and catalyze urban planners, health practitioners, builders, federal partners, and interest groups to develop tools, practices, and policies to reduce health disparities.

The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Institutes for Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services