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Promoting Public Health Through Smart Growth: Building Healthier Communities Through Transportation and Land Use Policies and Practices

Healthy Communities    Smart Growth   
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Urban | Suburban |
This document emphasizes how living smart growth communities leads to greater overall public health. It discusses practices that can be used in a variety of locations and focuses on how planners should create compact development that allow people to walk to their homes, supermarkets, schools and retail. These strategies are also used to achieve economic, social and environmental objectives goals, such as reducing climate change, air pollution and traffic congestions, increasing convenience and accessibility for people of all ages and increasing multi/mixed uses for homeowners. There is a strong focus to incorporate tax dollars towards infrastructure and design of the community to allow practices which allow walkable streets that are pedestrian friendly, encourage urban redevelopment and improve roads and transit. This document also discusses how smart growth policies can mitigate mental health impact by increasing physical activity and creating a less stressful environment.