PHEAL 399 Urban Health & Mobility
Source: Chapman, J., Iroz-Elardo, N., Alfonsin, N., Frank, L., Whitfield, K., Henley, C., & Hagerman, L. (2019). Integrating Health and Transportation in Canada. Transportation Association of Canada. https://www.tac-atc.ca/sites/default/files/site/doc/Bookstore/ptm-ihtc-e.pdf
As life expectancy drastically rose in the 20th century, the burden of disease shifted from infectious agents to chronic conditions. As a result, a significant challenge for current public health practitioners is identifying and understanding the behaviors and environment that contribute to chronic disease.
This class engages chronic diseases by examining the built environment in our communities. This includes examining the way our cities are laid out (land use) and the way we move around them (mobility, i.e. transportation systems).
Together with the social determinants of health, these “environmental” determinants of the land use and transportation system constrain or support:
everyday physical activity
exposure to air pollution
exposure to traffic injury/fatality
the ability to reach health affirming/promoting destinations such as public parks and grocery stores.
Draft PHEAL 399 Fall 2022 Syllabus can be found here. (Subject to Change)