Using health impact assessment to improve health outcomes associated with housing development

The connection between housing and health is a consistent priority in health impact assessment (HIA). Research links housing to respiratory disease, injuries, heart disease, anxiety, lack of income for daily needs, and social networks. HIAs have analyzed how the siting, affordability, quality, and quantity of housing affects these outcomes. Human Impact Partners is a research and capacity-building organization that has participated in HIAs to analyze housing impacts on health in housing development projects, transit-oriented development plans, and public housing redevelopment. In this session, we will present examples of how HIA was used to assess housing impacts on health: South Los Angeles, CA, 450 housing units, retail and a multipurpose space proposed on the site of a former chrome plating facility; Oakland, CA, a 55-unit low-income senior housing complex and 14,000 square feet of retail on a site close to a freeway; Pittsburg, CA, 1,600 housing units and 445,000 square feet of retail and light industry within a half-mile of a new subway station and freeway; San Francisco, CA, redevelopment of federally-subsidized public housing, focusing on two sites redeveloped approximately five years prior; and Denver, CO, 100 units of affordable senior housing developed by the Denver Housing Authority as part of a revitalization master plan. For each example we will describe specific indicators used to assess health impacts, design recommendations and mitigations proposed, and outcomes achieved. Through these case studies we will highlight the value of HIA to address built environment determinants of health.