Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Role of Health in Shaping Zoning Policy Decisions

博士论文研究：健康在制定分区政策决策中的作用

• 批准号: 0958865
• 负责人: Katherine Smith
• 金额: $ 1.12万
• 依托单位: Johns Hopkins University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-03-15 至 2011-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0958865&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Role; Health

This study examines the political, legal, and pragmatic considerations in addressing health issues via zoning policy. The investigators aim to address 1) whether, how, and in what contexts the language, mapping, and process of zoning can address contemporary health concerns; 2) the role health considerations play in zoning policy makers' decisions; and 3) the consequences of efforts to include provisions that address health in a comprehensive zoning rewrite . These aims will be addressed through an ethnographic case study of TransForm Baltimore, the City's first comprehensive zoning rewrite since 1971. Interviews will be conducted with developers, local decision makers, and experts on land use policy and law, environmental justice, and healthy city design. The project will also include an examination of comparable zoning issues in New Zealand to serve as a point of comparison.While research has shown that the built environment influences health outcomes, little discussion addresses how those involved in shaping land use policy understand the connection between land use and health. Given that the original purpose of zoning was to promote "health, security, morals or general welfare," scant data exist on whether and why "promoting health" functions as a guiding principle. This research aims to understand the inner workings of the rezoning process, whether zoning is viewed as a means to address social problems, how stakeholders respond to proposed health-promoting measures, and if tools or processes can be developed to ensure that zoning decisions address health concerns wisely and fairly. Contributing to discussions of the relative influence of governance, innovation and power when changing urban settings, particularly those that face shrinking population levels and sizable health disparities is a central goal of this work. Finally, this study intends to produce considerations for what an equitable use of zoning as a police power might entail and address the limitations of employing a regulatory process like zoning to combat the complex factors that create health disparities.

本研究探讨了通过分区政策解决健康问题的政治、法律和务实考虑。研究人员的目标是解决：1）分区的语言、地图和过程是否、如何以及在什么背景下可以解决当代的健康问题； 2) 健康考虑因素在分区政策制定者决策中发挥的作用； 3) 将涉及健康问题的条款纳入全面的分区重写的努力的后果。这些目标将通过 TransForm 巴尔的摩的民族志案例研究来实现，这是该市自 1971 年以来首次全面的分区重写。我们将采访开发商、当地决策者以及土地使用政策和法律、环境正义和健康城市设计方面的专家。该项目还将包括对新西兰可比分区问题的审查，以作为比较点。虽然研究表明建筑环境会影响健康结果，但很少讨论参与制定土地利用政策的人员如何理解土地利用与健康之间的联系。鉴于分区的最初目的是促进“健康、安全、道德或普遍福利”，关于“促进健康”是否以及为何作为指导原则的数据很少。本研究旨在了解重新分区过程的内部运作方式，分区是否被视为解决社会问题的一种手段，利益相关者如何应对拟议的健康促进措施，以及是否可以开发工具或流程来确保分区决策明智而公平地解决健康问题。这项工作的核心目标是讨论在改变城市环境时，特别是那些面临人口水平萎缩和巨大健康差距的城市环境中治理、创新和权力的相对影响。最后，本研究旨在考虑公平使用分区作为警察权力可能带来的后果，并解决利用分区等监管程序来应对造成健康差异的复杂因素的局限性。