Building Productive Partnerships between Planning and Health

This presenter's distinguished career is evident as an architect and a civic leader who can engage communities in the sometimes difficult conversations required to advance infill and redevelopment projects that make neighborhoods sustainable, affordable, healthy, and livable. His appointment as President of the Los Angeles City Planning Commission culminates from over two decades of architectural practice. In 1989, he established a "place-based" urban architectural practice working on affordable housing, historic preservation and mixed-use transit-oriented development projects. As President of the Los Angeles City Planning Commission, he has taken the lead on introducing for citywide consideration a Health Element as a component of the Los Angeles City General Plan Framework by securing a motion from the City Planning Commission and initiating partnerships with the County Department of Public Health. He has also been a leading initiator, for the Streets for People (S4P) Program which has collaborated with the City Council and is building unprecedented working relationships between planning and health. This presenter has been an instrumental ally with Los Angeles County Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) Program's built environmental work. With CDC support, the Los Angeles County's CPPW program is engaging in bold policy, systems, and environmental changes to increase physical activity and access to healthy foods to reduce and prevent obesity. This presenter will discuss the role of the planning sector in health, identify ways to effectively engage this sector in productive partnerships, and highlight examples of the effective collaboration between the health and planning sectors in CPPW.