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AJPH First Look, published online ahead of print Jul 16, 2009
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September 2009, Vol 99, No. 9 | American Journal of Public Health 1603-1611
© 2009 American Public Health Association
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2008.150136

PUBLIC HEALTH THEN AND NOW

Public Health, the APHA, and Urban Renewal

Russ P. Lopez, DSc, MCRP

The author is with the School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, MA.

Correspondence: Correspondence should be sent to Russ P. Lopez, DSc, MCRP, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany St, T4W, Boston, MA 02118 (e-mail: rptlopez{at}bu.edu). Reprints can be ordered at http://www.ajph.org by clicking the "Reprints/Eprints" link.

Joint efforts by fields of public health in the last decade have advocated use of the built environment to protect health. Past involvement by public health advocates in urban policy, however, has had mixed results. Although public health has significantly contributed to health improvements, its participation in urban renewal activities was problematic. Health advocates and the American Public Health Association produced guidelines that were widely used to declare inner-city areas blighted and provided a scientific justification for demolishing neighborhoods and displacing mostly poor and minority people. Furthermore, health departments failed to uphold their legal responsibility to ensure that relocated families received safe, affordable housing alternatives. These failures have important implications for future health-related work on the built environment and other core public health activities.






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