Creating Healthy Places

The places where we live, work and play can have a direct effect on our health. With that in mind, researchers from the University of Colorado Denver’s School of Architecture and Planning set out to study the ways that architects, city planners, community organizations, and health officials can work together to plan and design places that don’t just look good, but help people feel good, too. The result is the Colorado Healthy Places Collaborative, which has produced several helpful resources including the new Creating Healthy Places Guidebook and a Health+Design Initiative website. Together, these resources look at how parks and green space, walkability, accessibility, and clean water and ventilation can help make communities healthier. They also examine some of the important issues, such as gentrification, equity, and displacement, faced by cities and neighborhoods today.

The Creating Healthy Places Guidebook can be read online, or you can borrow a copy from the State Publications Library. The guidebook is supplemented by the website, which includes additional information such as a “GuideBox” resource set; project descriptions; webinars and presentations; and news and events. For more details, see the university’s news story.