09-18-07 PTRC - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Planning Information Sheet:Integrating Health into.Comprehensive Planning The Metropolitan Council's Requirements for Comprehensive Plans:A Brief List of Using the Matrix in Your Own Health Issues Community By considering the Metropolitan Council's Focusing on the minimum content required plan requirements,communities can identify by the Metropolitan Council,the matrix on numerous opportunities to integrate health the previous page provides a starting point into comprehensive planning.Using a matrix in communities for discussing opportunities such as the one on the next page,one can make to integrate health into their comprehensive clear links between various aspects of health plans.Communities might also include other and traditional planning elements,including elements or content in this matrix to reflect information required by the Metropolitan local concerns or typical plan content(e.g., Council.Even for communities outside of the community facilities,environmental protection, Twin Cities region,the matrix can be a useful urban design).To further tailor the matrix to the tool to organize efforts to integrate health local context,additional health issues or specific into a community's comprehensive plan.The health concerns related to the general categories matrix includes plan content specified by the provided above also could be included(e.g., Metropolitan Council and a number of relevant access to supermarkets for low-income residents, health issues. high asthma rates in neighborhoods adjacent to highways).Use of this tool as part of the The health issues included in the matrix were public participation process can be effective in introduced earlier and were identified based increasing awareness of the relationships between on a review of wide-ranging literature on health and the built environment.The public may the relationship between health and the built be a significant source of information about key environment,drawing from research in the areas health issues and the feedback gathered during of public health,environmental management, a participatory process may be useful in drafting transportation planning,urban design,and goals and identifying policy options. healthy eating.Frumkin,Frank and Jackson (2004)use many of these same categories of health,including air quality,physical activity, traffic safety, water quality,mental health, and social capital,relating them to urban sprawl.A recent American Planning Association"Planning Advisory Service Report"on integrating planning and public health,addresses some of these same issues but also adds obesity and inactivity,crime, hazardous waste sites, and transported materials (Morris 2006).The matrix used here(see p.9) includes the additional concerns of food access, pollutants and epidemiological issues, such as the concentration of diseases within particular populations or geographic areas. i Design for Health 10 UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA www.dasignforhealth.net