Over the past 100 years, public health in the United States has grown in importance by leaps and bounds. Much of the field has its historical roots based in events surrounding disease prevention, population safety and a slew of regulations that were enacted to generally make the country a safer place to live. Another aspect of public health that was integral in the shaping of the country was its role in developing the built environment.

Coming back from the Health 2.0 conference in San Francisco last week, I had the opportunity to read over a fascinating article about the involvement of the American Public Health Association (APHA) in the early 1900′s, in setting precedents for urban housing. In essence, the APHA and other health professionals created regulations that were used to declare certain inner-city residential areas as “blighted” or uninhabitable. What this meant for those neighborhoods and the people living in them can be summed up with two words: destroyed and displaced.

After World War II, the state of urban neighborhoods that were populated predominantly by African Americans were considered in very poor shape. Moreover, these substandard conditions allowed for an increase in public health concerns which were noted by the APHA. Between 1937-1938, the APHA created a Committee on the Hygiene of Housing and developed guidelines that outlined fundamental requirements (including physical, mental and social health) of living conditions in order to promote better health and reduce disease.

Because housing was responsible for poor health, it became a goal of the reformers to advocate for demolition of the worst units and for a comprehensive national program of housing construction that would build as many as 13 million units from 1937 to 1945.

As good as this sounded at the time, much of the demolition that took place caused more problems – including the extensive displacement of families (with many times no relocation plans for them) and the increased negative reputation of urban neighborhoods. Many of the guidelines that were put into place also turned a blind eye to blatant racial segregation that continued to exclude African Americans from proper means of living. Bias in housing location for them apparently ran rampant. Mental health also played a role as many ousted residents (which would also include Italian and Jewish residents) would return to the old neighborhoods to try and find solace.

In essence – the public health workers had their minds in the right place however the political figures and others involved in the urban renewal process let the ball drop on quite a few important issues.

From the article:

Focusing on the health effects of the built environment, new research has shed light on the association between the physical form of neighborhoods and the physical activity levels of its inhabitants – and the role of housing in asthma.

Today, the public health field has another opportunity to examine the effects of the built environment and make positive connections and changes with regard to public health. The next few years will be an important opportunity for public health as we can no longer ignore the effects of how the built environment affects the health of its residents. From addressing childhood obesity to improving physical activity options for the entire family, I hope that we can move forward with sustainable solutions.

Additional Resources:

National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Summary on Public Housing and Public Health (PDF)

Housing and Health: Time Again for Public Health Action (PDF article)

From Time | The ‘Vacancy’ Blight: Finding New Uses for Empty Stores

Last spring, Manon Slome was walking down a street in New York City when she noticed something odd: “Store after store was closed. When stores are empty it’s like, ‘What’s going on?’ It was a feeling of siege.”

Plenty of people in America could make the same observation. Nationwide, 10% of shopping center stores sit empty, according to the real-estate analytics firm Reis. That’s the highest percentage of vacancies since 1992 — what you get when you mix a bad recession with a commercial real estate bust (thanks to years of overzealous building).

Slome is now among the people doing something about it. After her springtime walk, the museum curator started contacting building owners, suggesting they let her use their empty space for art exhibitions. She landed her first storefront in June: a former tackle shop was soon home to photographs, paintings and videos on the bad economy and — in homage to the space’s former use — fishing. Says Slome: “It’s art coming in to fill the vacuum.”

The repurposing doesn’t stop there. Around the country, property owners and managers are trying out new uses for empty stores. Spaces that used to house Radio Shacks and Linens ‘N Things now serve as libraries, auction houses, TV studios, even block-long billboards to advertise other stores and brands.

Such endeavors are not going to solve the retail real estate glut. Only a realignment of supply and demand for long-term leases will do that. But in the short-term, getting creative with commercial space keeps storefronts filled, which helps keep properties secure and community spirit intact, and may even bring in a little money for would-be landlords to offset costs like utilities, taxes and maintenance.

Consider the work of Marc Feldman at Developers Diversified Realty, an Ohio-based company that owns nearly 700 retail properties across the country. He and his 15-person team are charged with finding non-traditional uses for available spaces at a time when some 9% of the firm’s units sit idle. Among the temporary uses they’ve landed on: health clinic, campaign office, auction house, county library, swap meet and soundstage for a car commercial shoot. “It doesn’t make up for the rents those retailers were paying, but it definitely provides revenue that we wouldn’t otherwise have,” says Feldman. “Even if it’s just for a day or a week, it goes to the bottom line.”

Steve Birnhak has another idea: turning empty storefronts into billboards. The company he founded, New York-based Inwindow Outdoor, connects property owners with advertisers willing to pay for window space, conveniently located right at the eyelevel of anyone walking or driving by. The ads go from floor to ceiling and are pretty hard to miss. One recent Chicago project advertised Intel over the entire facade of a now-defunct Comp USA store.

Cities are getting in on the act, too. At the end of October, San Francisco will launch Art in Storefronts, a collaboration between the Office of Economic and Workforce Development and the San Francisco Arts Commission that will fill 20 unused storefronts in four neighborhoods with the work of local artists. The goal is twofold: to spruce up areas that have seen high vacancy rates and to help support artists in a down economy.

There may eventually be another benefit, too, says Lisa Pagan, who runs San Francisco’s business improvement districts program. “The hope is that this may help people look at individual storefronts in a more positive way,” she says. Translation: get enough art lovers to traipse up and down a certain block and maybe some of them will start thinking about what a great place it would be to rent a storefront for their business.

Full | The ‘Vacancy’ Blight: Finding New Uses for Empty Stores