Designing Healthy Communities

On June 22, Dr. Richard Jackson will discuss the link between our health and the way our communities — especially our suburbs — are designed. Obesity, asthma, diabetes and heart disease are all aggravated by the ways we live our lives today. For the first time in two centuries, children today face shorter life expectancies than their parents, due in part to unhealthy lifestyles. It doesn’t have to be this way. Dr. Jackson will talk about how well designed communities and better transportation choices can enable physical activity and improve both our physical and mental health.

Richard J. Jackson is Professor and Chair of Environmental Health Sciences at the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Jackson lectures and speaks on many issues, particularly those related to built environment and health. He is host of a 2012 public television series Designing Healthy Communities which links to the J Wiley & Sons book by the same name published in October, 2011. He co-authored two Island Press Books: Urban Sprawl and Public Health in 2004 and Making Healthy Places in 2011. He has served on many environmental and health boards, as well as the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Architects.

Sponsors of Dr. Jackson's Portland visit include the Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association, 1000 Friends of Oregon, Oregon Environmental Council, the Oregon Transportation and Growth Management program, and Multnomah County Health Department.

For more information about Dr. Jackson and the Designing for Healthy Communities project, go to: http://designinghealthycommunities.org/.