How Planning and Zoning Contribute to Inequitable Development, Neighborhood Health, and Environmental Injustice

Abstract

In this commentary, we discuss the ways in which planning and zoning contribute to inequitable development and how this has implications for the design of neighborhoods, health and health disparities, and environmental injustice. We first discuss the history of zoning and planning in this country and their contribution to inequitable development and urban fragmentation. We then describe how the distribution of resources within and between neighborhoods has an impact on neighborhood health by linking neighborhood conditions to health outcomes such as obesity and cardiovascular disease. In this commentary, we also discuss the contributions of planning and zoning to environmental injustice and the production of riskscapes. We conclude with a discussion on the importance of social justice and equity in urban revitalization efforts and make recommendations that can be adopted to improve local social and physical environments and access to health-promoting resources in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

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