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

本研究探讨了政治，法律的，和务实的考虑，在解决健康问题，通过分区政策。调查人员的目标是解决1）是否，如何以及在什么情况下的语言，绘图和分区过程可以解决当代健康问题; 2）健康考虑因素在分区决策者的决策中发挥的作用;和3）努力的后果，包括在全面的分区重写中解决健康问题的规定。这些目标将通过对巴尔的摩改造的民族志案例研究来解决，这是该市自1971年以来第一次全面的分区重写。将与开发商，当地决策者和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进行访谈。该项目还将包括审查新西兰可比较的分区问题，以作为比较点。虽然研究表明，建筑环境影响健康结果，但很少讨论参与制定土地使用政策的人如何理解土地使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、道德或一般福利”，关于“促进健康”是否以及为什么发挥指导原则的作用的数据很少。本研究旨在了解重新分区过程的内部运作，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，以确保分区决策明智和公平地解决健康问题。这项工作的一个中心目标是，在改变城市环境，特别是那些面临人口减少和健康差距较大的城市环境时，促进关于治理、创新和权力的相对影响的讨论。最后，本研究旨在产生的考虑因素，一个公平的使用分区作为一种警察权力可能需要解决的局限性，采用一个监管过程，如分区，以打击复杂的因素，造成健康差距。

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.