Abstract: This report is a condensed version of the West Park District Plan as it relates to public health. It's purpose is to inform the public and the policymakers about the link between public health and the city's infrastructure.
Where do the authors work, and what are their areas of expertise? Note any other publications by the authors with relevance to the 6Cities project.
Phila2035 is the city's Comprehensive Plan for physical development.
What are the main findings or arguments presented in the article or report?
Considering Health:
Land use: Propose zoning updates to make stores, parks and transit stations walkable for residents by changing commercial zones, and to make more housing options near transit stations. This is especially aimed at the well-being of the elderly.
Access to Community Facilities: Propose relocation of parks and playgrounds so more of the district can access them. This will increase physical activity, therefore, health of the people. Also, there are no public health clinics in the district. The plan proposes to increase access to private health care facilities via public transportation and "incorporate commercial space for private health clinics in future RFPs issued by the City to attract mixed-use developments to the Parkside neighborhood."
Access to Healthy Food: Propose more easy access to fresh food by encouraging community gardens and farmers markets and retrofitting corner stores to hold more fresh food. Over 12,000 residents of this district do not own cars. This is who this would benefit most. The walkability of the district would decrease air pollution.
Active Transportation Infrastructure: Make walkways safer with new crosswalks, traffic lights, and medians, make region more bike friendly and establish bike stations, establish pedestrian plazas in street areas high in pedestrian density, and improve rail station locations for convenience of the people and to form more direct routes.
Open Space Access: Heart problems and other chronic diseases would decrease with more access to areas where residents can spend time walking.
Describe at least three ways that the argument is supported.
For each segment presented (land use, community facilities, healthy food, transporation, open space acces), there is:
A background about that segment and improving the quality of that segment improves a city
A background about how the region of Philadelphia currently stands in terms of the segment of interest
Proposed solutions that will improve Philadelphia's health.
What three (or more) quotes capture the message of the article or report?
"As one component of this initiative, PDPH is working to raise awareness of the connections between the built environment and Philadelphians’ health through a partnership with the City Planning Commission (PCPC). These reports inform decisionmakers and community stakeholders about potential health benefits or negative health impacts associated with proposed changes in land use, transportation, and other planning and development-related factors."
"Rapid transit options for visitors desiring to visit the Centennial District’s growing attractions will provide viable alternatives to driving. For residents, this will have direct positive impacts on congestion, mobility, and air quality, creating a safer environment through which to move on foot or by bike"
What were the methods, tools and/or data used to produce the claims or arguments made in the article or report?
The data used were from Census sources, survey data specifically for this plan's purpose, and would have relied on a Walkability Assessment Tool, established to analyze a community and ways to make walking and biking safer, but it was not finished by the Department of Public Health and City Planning Committee.
How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?
Demographic description
"In Philadelphia, non-Hispanic black men have the highest death rates for heart disease, lung cancer, and homicide, among other leading causes. Non-hispanic black women have a death rate 1.3 times higher than white women for heart disease, and 2 times higher for diabetes."
Almost 40% of the population of West Park District is children and elders, sensitive groups to public health situations.
Where has this article or report been referenced or discussed? (In some journals, you can see this in a sidebar.)
It has been discussed in Philadelphia city government websites.
A news source reports of the community involvement in the construction of this plan for West Park.
Can you learn anything from the article or report’s bibliography that tells us something about how the article or report was produced?
There is no bibliography in this report.
What three points, details or references from the text did you follow up on to advance your understanding of how air pollution science has been produced and used in governance and education in different settings?
Looked at the district boundaries of Philadelphia and when there would be district plans done by Phila2035. (District plans are not all like this one, this aims at public health).
I looked into the other plan for West Park District by Phila2035, the District Plan not aimed solely at public health and also on development.
Some air quality measures:
Goal: "Reduce overall and per capita greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 45 percent by 2035"
Tree coverage, found locations that would be compatible
Improve walkability
Does the article provide information or perspective on any of the thematics already identified as important for the 6Cities project?
The tools, methods and findings of air pollution research travel broadly, forming an international community that may be consolidating into an “epistemic community” (Hass 1990).
Open data initiatives are enabling air pollution research and action.
Scientific capacity to link air pollution to health impacts has grown dramatically in recent years, although much of this research has yet to be translated into policy.
Increasingly, researchers themselves are calling for specific policies and interventions.
Scientific capacity to link air pollution to economic impacts has also grown dramatically.
A notable group of environmental health researchers and advocates now argue for making air pollution knowledge more actionable by tightening its resolution, leveraging diverse data types (potentially including citizen science) and new capacity in data analytics.
Across sites, there is growing recognition of a need to improve understanding of air pollution, health impacts, and mitigation opportunities at the neighborhood level.
There continues to be considerable distance between air quality sciences and health sciences, and between government agencies responsible for environment, health, transportation, education, and other elements of the air pollution calculus. Stakeholders often refer to the problem as one of “stove-pipes” and “research silos.”
There is a growing need for capacity to characterize pollutants from distant (sometimes international) sources; enhanced capacity for this will in turn create complex transboundary governance challenges.
Air pollution has been at the center of increasing NGO activities in many contexts, with NGOs playing increasingly significant roles in governance (Francesch-Huidobro 2007; Mai and Francesch-Huidobro 2014).
Confidence in capacity to decrease air pollution and associated health impacts varies across settings.
Ports have become important sites of air pollution monitoring, modelling, and mitigation, but present particular challenges.
There have been important developments in capacity to share air quality information.
- Citation:
- Abstract: This report is a condensed version of the West Park District Plan as it relates to public health. It's purpose is to inform the public and the policymakers about the link between public health and the city's infrastructure.
Where do the authors work, and what are their areas of expertise? Note any other publications by the authors with relevance to the 6Cities project.Phila2035. Planning a Healthier Philadelphia: West Park District Plan. April 2012. Accessed November 2012. http://phila2035.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/HIA_WP_Condensed_Report.pdf
- Phila2035 is the city's Comprehensive Plan for physical development.
What are the main findings or arguments presented in the article or report?- Considering Health:
- Land use: Propose zoning updates to make stores, parks and transit stations walkable for residents by changing commercial zones, and to make more housing options near transit stations. This is especially aimed at the well-being of the elderly.
- Access to Community Facilities: Propose relocation of parks and playgrounds so more of the district can access them. This will increase physical activity, therefore, health of the people. Also, there are no public health clinics in the district. The plan proposes to increase access to private health care facilities via public transportation and "incorporate commercial space for private health clinics in future RFPs issued by the City to attract mixed-use developments to the Parkside neighborhood."
- Access to Healthy Food: Propose more easy access to fresh food by encouraging community gardens and farmers markets and retrofitting corner stores to hold more fresh food. Over 12,000 residents of this district do not own cars. This is who this would benefit most. The walkability of the district would decrease air pollution.
- Active Transportation Infrastructure: Make walkways safer with new crosswalks, traffic lights, and medians, make region more bike friendly and establish bike stations, establish pedestrian plazas in street areas high in pedestrian density, and improve rail station locations for convenience of the people and to form more direct routes.
- Open Space Access: Heart problems and other chronic diseases would decrease with more access to areas where residents can spend time walking.
Describe at least three ways that the argument is supported.- For each segment presented (land use, community facilities, healthy food, transporation, open space acces), there is:
- A background about that segment and improving the quality of that segment improves a city
- A background about how the region of Philadelphia currently stands in terms of the segment of interest
- Proposed solutions that will improve Philadelphia's health.
What three (or more) quotes capture the message of the article or report?- "As one component of this initiative, PDPH is working to raise awareness of the connections between the built environment and Philadelphians’ health through a partnership with the City Planning Commission (PCPC). These reports inform decisionmakers and community stakeholders about potential health benefits or negative health impacts associated with proposed changes in land use, transportation, and other planning and development-related factors."
- "Rapid transit options for visitors desiring to visit the Centennial District’s growing attractions will provide viable alternatives to driving. For residents, this will have direct positive impacts on congestion, mobility, and air quality, creating a safer environment through which to move on foot or by bike"
What were the methods, tools and/or data used to produce the claims or arguments made in the article or report?- The data used were from Census sources, survey data specifically for this plan's purpose, and would have relied on a Walkability Assessment Tool, established to analyze a community and ways to make walking and biking safer, but it was not finished by the Department of Public Health and City Planning Committee.
How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?- Demographic description
- "In Philadelphia, non-Hispanic black men have the highest death rates for heart disease, lung cancer, and homicide, among other leading causes. Non-hispanic black women have a death rate 1.3 times higher than white women for heart disease, and 2 times higher for diabetes."
- Almost 40% of the population of West Park District is children and elders, sensitive groups to public health situations.
Where has this article or report been referenced or discussed? (In some journals, you can see this in a sidebar.)- It has been discussed in Philadelphia city government websites.
- A news source reports of the community involvement in the construction of this plan for West Park.
Can you learn anything from the article or report’s bibliography that tells us something about how the article or report was produced?- There is no bibliography in this report.
What three points, details or references from the text did you follow up on to advance your understanding of how air pollution science has been produced and used in governance and education in different settings?Does the article provide information or perspective on any of the thematics already identified as important for the 6Cities project?