Healthy Community Planning
Health Equity in the Comprehensive Plan
Between 2008 and 2012, OPHI collaborated with the City’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) and various stakeholders to ensure that health objectives and actions were integrated into the citywide, strategic planning process called the Portland Plan. The Portland Plan was adopted by City Council in spring of 2012.
More Information on OPHI's Involvement in the Portland PlanBy co-leading the Human Health, Food and Public Safety Technical Advisory Group (TAG) and convening the Healthy Portland Plan Workgroup (HPPW), OPHI successfully informed the Portland Plan’s overall strategies and policy goals. The TAG, a collaboration between OPHI and BPS, drafted objectives and actions for the Portland Plan and produced two background reports on Human Health and Safety and Food Systems. The HPPW, consisting of numerous health partners and other important stakeholders, helped develop the Portland Plan’s Healthy Connected Neighborhood strategy, which aims to create a system of neighborhood hubs and greenways that promote and protect the public’s health. Key components of this strategy include policy goals and 5-year actions that will support the City to make public decisions that benefit the health of all Portland residents. To learn more about how the HPPW influenced the Portland Plan process, please access the HPPW Timeline and Strategy Model.
Following the strategic visioning of the Portland Plan, the Comprehensive Plan is a “coordinated set of guidelines for decision making to guide the future growth and development of the city”, specifically focused on land use and public facilities planning policies and goals. Required by the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, comprehensive plans are updated once every several years. Originally developed in 1980, Portland’s comprehensive plan is currently in the process of being updated and will help implement the Portland Plan. OPHI will continue its role in the Portland Plan to be a leader and convener during the Comprehensive Plan process until fall of 2013.
Convener of the Health Equity Comprehensive Plan Network
OPHI is leading a collaborative effort to ensure that a health and healthy equity framework is well integrated into Portland’s Comprehensive Plan. By working with Multnomah County Health Department, the Urban League of Portland and others, OPHI is convening the “Health Equity Comp Plan Network”. The Network provides monthly updates on information related to the Comp Plan process, shares information from OPHI and partners who are participating on and actively monitoring the Comp Plan Policy Expert Groups (PEGs), and asks Network members for their input and feedback to bring a collective voice on health and health equity issues in the Comp Plan.
Comp Plans with Health and Health Equity Goals: Case Studies, Resources and Toolkits
OPHI has gathered a list of resources that provide general information and tools for health/equity partners and planners to develop comprehensive plans with health and health equity goals. See the following list of resource categories and click the heading to choose documents of interest.
Resources for Portland Comp Plan Policy Expert GroupsPortland Plan Background Reports
Food Systems
Housing Affordability
Human Health and Human Safety
Infrastructure
Natural Resource Inventory
Public Schools
Urban Form
Watershed Health
Economic Development
Economic Opportunity chapter of the Growing Healthier report informing the Comprehensive Growth Management Plan in Clark County, Washington.
The Environmental Law Institute’s Brownfields Program encourages and supports brownfield cleanups and redevelopment and helps ensure that such efforts protect public health and respond to community preferences.
Oregon Public Health Brownfields Initiative led by Oregon Health Authority.
Education and Youth Success
Article from the Atlantic Cities: Bad Zoning Can Ruin Your Kid’s Life. “According to a new report from the Brookings Institution, being raised in an area with overly restrictive zoning controls can doom children to getting stuck in bad schools, which in turn can greatly limit their lifetime educational attainment and economic success. Of course, it’s all much more complicated than that, but the report, by Jonathan Rothwell, shows how restrictive zoning can be a major factor in determining the success of students.”
Active Living Research on Joint Use Agreements: contains a variety of links to research projects exploring policies that address community recreational use of school facilities.
Infrastructure Equity
Racial Equity Strategy Guide (Draft). Presented by Portland’s Partnership for Racial Equity to City and Bureau Leadership.
Neighborhood Centers/ Residential Development and Compatibility
Building Social Capital with Comprehensive Planning and Ordinances. Design for Health (DFH). 2007.
Considering Safety through Comprehensive Planning and Ordinances. Design for Health (DFH). 2007.
Minnesota Green Affordable Housing Guide.
Promoting Food Access with Comprehensive Planning and Ordinances. Design for Health. 2007.
Networks
STARS: Integrating Safety, Health and Equity into Transportation Projects. Achieved by a collaborative partnership among North American Sustainable Transportation Council, Upstream Public Health, City of Portland Bureau of Transportation, and Multnomah County Health Department’s Healthy Communities by Design Program.
Portland Air Toxics Solutions Report and Recommendations. State of Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. May 10, 2012. To see other documents and maps related to air quality in the Portland areas on the DEQ website, click here.
Watershed Health and Environment
City of Portland. Comprehensive Plan Update.
City of Gresham. Healthy Eating and Active Living Comprehensive Plan scan and amendments.
City of Lake Oswego. We Love Lake Oswego Comprhensive Plan update.
City of Vancouver. Comprehensive Plan Update.
Clark County Comprehensive Growth Management Plan–Health Element.
How to Create and Implement Healthy General Plans. Public Health Law and Policy. 2008. This toolkit provides a progression of steps focused on the general plan, the key land use policy document for California cities and counties…[it] details a wide range of strategies, from building relationships and assessing existing conditions to creating and ultimately implementing policy language. Model health language is included to provide specific ideas for how to address health concerns through general plan policies.
Toolkit: General Plans and Zoning. Public Health Law and Policy. 2007. This toolkit is designed for nutrition and other public health advocates who are seeking a fundamental, introductory understanding of how land use decisions are made and how advocates can effectively participate in those decisions.
Integrating Health into Comprehensive Planning. Design for Health (DFH). 2007. This information sheet helps communities begin thinking about how to integrate health into their planning and design decisions. It is part of a series of factsheets that provide planners with useful information about opportunities to address important health issues through the comprehensive planning process and plan implementation.
A Roadmap for Healthier General Plans. Public Health Law and Policy. 2011. The process of getting health-promoting policies into a general plan can seem daunting. But city planners, health department staff, local advocates, and others all have a role to play – and this planning process offers a critical opportunity to shape local development patterns for decades into the future. This roadmap highlights roles and strategies for key players to consider along the way.
Land Use and Public Health Collaborations Flowchart. American Planning Association and National Association of County and City Health Officials. This document details steps that local planning agencies may take when drafting a comprehensive plan and specific strategies and actions to involve themselves in the planning process.
Comprehensive Planning for Public Health: Results of the Planning and Community Health Research Center Survey. Planning and Community Health Research Center, American Planning Association. 2011.
Influencing Water Quality with Comprehensive Planning and Ordinances. Design for Health (DFH). 2007.
Healthy Planning Guide. Public Health Law and Policy. 2009. This guide is intended to help public health and planning departments collaborate on strategies to promote healthier communities. Each page links health risks to aspects of the built environment, outlining ways to ensure that neighborhoods are designed to support health equity and community well-being.
Partners for Public Health: Working with Local, State and Federal Agencies to Create Healthier Communities. Public Health Law and Policy. 2010. This guide is designed to be a companion to the Healthy Planning Guide, and was developed to equip public health advocates with a foundational understanding of potential public agency partners and avenues for engaging in public policy and planning processes.
The Health Perspective on Planning & the Planning Perspective on Health. Public Health Law and Policy. These fact sheets summarize research linking health outcomes to the built environment: one for health practitioners and advocates, in which the research is categorized according to public health issue (e.g., injury prevention, access to healthy food); and one for planners, in which the research is categorized by land use issue (e.g., density, street connectivity).The information is meant to provide rationale to support built environment policy change and to serve as a discussion tool when developing connections between public health practitioners and planners.
