Culture
How to Measure a Project's Health
By embracing a new "health impact assessment" tool, Atlanta makes sure its major redevelopment will lead to healthier lives.
In the musical chairs of urban planning, public health often finds itself left standing when the music stops. Often, by the time policymakers rouse support, local agencies rally funding, and land-use and transportation professionals exchange designs there's no one left to determine exactly how it will impact the health of those it's meant to serve in the first place.
That's where a "health impact assessment" comes in. An HIA, like an environmental review, evaluates the potential effects a major planning project might have on the public health of a surrounding community, and recommends certain actions needed to mitigate - or, in the case of health benefits, accelerate - those impacts.