From food deserts and the obesity epidemic to air pollution and asthma, there are many opportunities for planners to help create healthier places. Research about the built environment and health is increasing across many disciplines, and as planners, we can help put these findings into practice.
This is one reason why the theme “Planning and Health: From Research to Practice” was chosen for this year’s Urban Growth Seminar Series. The Price School has partnered with the Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research (IPR) in the USC Keck School of Medicine, and we have invited leading researchers and practitioners to USC to discuss cutting-edge knowledge about planning and health, with interpretations about what the research implies for practice.
Our first talk is on September 18th (next Tuesday!). Entitled “Is Los Angeles the Creative or Anti-Creative City?” this session will explore the intersection of policy, art, economics, community, and regulation. We will be holding this special session as part of the SOC(i)AL = Art + People Series, which is a speaker series hosted by Freewaves about socially engaged art in Southern California. Dr. Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, Associate Professor, USC Price School, and Dr. Sarah Schrank, Professor of History, California State University, Long Beach will be panelists, and Dr. David Sloane will moderate. This talk will be held on the USC Campus in Lewis Hall, Room 101 from 12:15-1:30pm.
Keep in mind that our next talk will be on September 25th, and we are thrilled and honored that Dr. James F. Sallis, Distinguished Professor of Family and Preventive Medicine, UC San Diego, will be joining us then! Dr. Sallis is an international leader on topics at the intersection of the built environment, physical activity, health, and food systems, and he will be discussing why public health has rediscovered planning and vice versa. Please note that this is one of two talks that will be at the Health Sciences campus — his seminar is well worth the trip!
The seminars take place on numerous Tuesdays throughout the school year from 12:15-1:30. The seminars are free, anyone may attend, and no RSVP is required. Join our Facebook to keep up to date!
– Bianca Schulaker, 2nd Year MPL, Concentration: Sustainable Land Use
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