Healthy, Equitable, Active Land Use Network
Land use is an important determinant of health because it shapes communities' access to health-promoting resources: transportation, jobs, housing, healthy food, safe places to play and be physically active, and more. Yet, too often, land use reinforces pervasive, historical health inequities. In Los Angeles, as in many places, low-income communities of color have not received the same level of investments or innovations in healthy, equitable, and active land uses that have benefited higher income neighborhoods. Better land use decisions, such as increasing access to safe parks and open spaces in all neighborhoods, are critical to reducing health inequities. In Los Angeles, a transformation is underway: more and more, voices for health equity are shaping land use decisions and investments.
Prevention Institute facilitates LA's Healthy, Equitable, Active Land Use (HEALU) Network, whose members represent a broad array of topical expertise (active transportation, parks, affordable housing, safe routes to school, environmental law, public health, and more) and varying approaches, from grassroots organizing to community development to strategic policy advocacy. These high-capacity organizations come together to examine the underlying structural barriers that touch each partner's work across a range of issues. Together, HEALU Network partners identify key ‘levers' of opportunity to fundamentally shift land use planning practices so they promote health equity in the first place.
The HEALU Network works strategically and collaboratively to:
- Increase the percentage of public funds invested in health-promoting infrastructure and capacity in low-income communities of color;
- Build capacity in government, the private sector, and community based organizations for robust community engagement in land use planning and policymaking;
- Accelerate land use innovations and demonstration projects in low-income communities of color; and
- Foster cross-government collaboration to embed health and equity in all land use decisions.
The HEALU Network will share its lessons learned broadly through strategic communications, and collaborate with similarly-oriented groups in other locales, to build a national movement for healthy, equitable, active land use nationwide. Sign up for our training, which goes beyond the basics of land use and health to explore how current and historic policies, practices, and norms shape community conditions, and how land use related policies and strategies can support rather than undermine health equity. Join the conversation on Twitter at #HEALU4ALL.
HEALU Network Core Partners
Community Development Technologies
Community Intelligence
East LA Community Corporation
Esperanza Community Housing Corporation
Investing in Place
Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition
Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust
Los Angeles Food Policy Council
Natural Resources Defense Council
Occidental College
Pacoima Beautiful
Prevention Institute
Randolph Consulting Group
The Nature Conservancy
The Wilderness Society
Events
- HEALU presents a four-part series in Los Angeles about advancing health equity and racial justice through public finance and infrastructure investments. "Equity as a Through Line: A Four-Part Summit Series on Social Movements, Public Finance, and Infrastructure Investments for Healthy Communities" is designed to build capacity among practitioners working in a variety of settings and sectors to create stronger, healthier neighborhoods. Check out our recap of the four-part series, “Creating a Racially Just Los Angeles: COVID-19, the Movement for Black Lives, and the Role of Equitable Public Infrastructure Investments."
- Land Use and Violence Prevention - Check out our blog post and report recapping this summit, which was cohosted by the Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles’ Making Connections for Mental Health and Wellbeing – South LA initiative.
- Healthy Development without Displacement - Check out our summit recap, our full paper exploring the issue in greater depth, and a recorded webinar on the topic.
- Healthy Land Use for All – Read a recap of the HEALU Network’s inaugural summit.
Videos
Can land use decisions help prevent community violence? Our response? A resounding yes. We can make our communities safer by bringing a violence prevention ‘lens’ to guide land use decisions like what gets funded, where things get built, whose voices shape the process, and what policies and programs are in place to ensure that communities of greatest need stand to benefit the most from new investments. Prevention Institute has produced a video that’s exploring the intersection of land use and violence prevention. This video came out of our 2015 Community Safety by Design paper, our 2016 HEALU Network summit in Los Angeles on land use and violence prevention, and a continued exploration of these intersectional issues.
Additional Resources
- A Collection of Built Environment and Violence Prevention Resources: This collection includes a range of Prevention Institute publications with guidance on incorporating violence prevention into land use and community development decisions.
- Read about Prevention Institute’s HEALU demonstration projects.
- In this blog, PI's Deputy Executive Director Manal J. Aboelata and Thomas Yee, Initiative Officer of the Low Income Investment Fund, share findings from their new report, "Shared Implementation for Equitable Infrastructure," on how to equitably distribute recent investments in LA County's housing, transportation, parks, and water infrastructure to benefit communities that need these investments the most.
