Abstract
The prevalence of chronic diseases has increased in recent decades. Some forms of the built environment adopted during the 20th century—e.g., urban sprawl, car dependency, and dysfunctional streetscapes—have contributed to this. In this article, I summarise ways in which the built environment influences health and how it can be constructed differently to promote health. I argue that urban planning is inevitably a social and political activity with many ethical dimensions, and I illustrate this with two examples: the construction of a hypothetical new suburb and a current review of planning legislation in Australia. I conclude that (1) constructing the built environment in ways that promote health can be ethically justified, (2) urban planners and public health workers should become more skilled in the application of ethical considerations to practical problems, and (3) the public health workforce needs to become more competent at influencing the activities of other sectors.
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Acknowledgements
I gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Drs. Stacy M. Carter and Lucie Rychetnik at several stages in the preparation of this paper and the advice of one anonymous reviewer. I also acknowledge many colleagues in health ethics, public health, and urban planning who have contributed greatly to my learning in these areas in recent years.
Competing Interests
None.
Funding Support
I am paid a salary by South Western Sydney and Sydney Local Health Districts, NSW Health, NSW, Australia.
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Sainsbury, P.G. Ethical Considerations Involved in Constructing the Built Environment to Promote Health. Bioethical Inquiry 10, 39–48 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-012-9423-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-012-9423-6