Built Environment

“The built environment touches all aspects of our lives, encompassing the buildings we live in, the distribution systems that provide us with water and electricity, and the roads, bridges, and transportation systems we use to get from place to place. It can generally be described as the man-made or modified structures that provide people with living, working, and recreational spaces. Creating all these spaces and systems requires enormous quantities of materials.” (EPA)

“In the engineering and social sciences, the term ‘built environment’, or built world, refers to the human-made environment that provides the setting for human activity, ranging in scale from buildings to cities and beyond. It has been defined as "the human-made space in which people live, work and recreate on a day-to-day basis. The built environment encompasses places and spaces created or modified by people to serve their needs of accommodation, organization and representation. In recent years, public health research has expanded the definition of ‘built environment’ to include healthy food access, community gardens, mental health, physical health, ‘walkability’, and ‘bikeability’.” (Wikipedia)

“The built environment is the human-made features of our communities — sidewalks, public transportation, housing and more. The way we design and build our communities affects our physical and mental health.” (APHA)

“The built environment includes the physical makeup of where we live, learn, work, and play—our homes, schools, businesses, streets and sidewalks, open spaces, and transportation options. The built environment can influence overall community health and individual behaviors such as physical activity and healthy eating.” (CDC)