Editor’s Note: We often write pieces on the Center for Total Health blog about how important our surroundings can be to our health. We’ve covered passionate discussions around built environments, and we’ve highlighted success stories. What we haven’t been able to capture so far is the process. We have invited Scott Kratz, director of 11th Street Bridge Park – a newly launched project – to share with us some of his experiences as he takes this vision of a shared community space that supports health from concept to reality. This is his first post with us.
Can your zip code determine your health? Epidemiologists tell us that place – where we live and work – is one of the greatest factors in health outcomes. Urban planning decisions afect people’s health. We know there is a strong link between regular physical activity and lowered risk of obesity and chronic diseases. But what if there is no safe place to play? What if one’s home is located in a food desert, as it has been for many residents in Washington, DC, without access to healthy meal choices?
Linking place and health is a key goal of the 11th Street Bridge Park – an innovative project in the nation’s capital to transform an old freeway bridge into a new civic space. As the 11th Street bridges across the Anacostia River have reached the end of their lifespan, the DC Office of Planning and a local non-profit, Building Bridges Across the River, will use part of the remaining infrastructure to build the 11th Street Bridge Park, a new park above the river.
We have led an extensive public outreach campaign asking local residents for their programming suggestions and have received many inspired ideas and wonderful support. The community has suggested innovative play spaces, urban agriculture, an environmental education center and kayak / canoe launches on the river below.
Community outreach continues with a brainstorming session on Tuesday, March 25 at Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Total Health with presentations by 11th Street Bridge Park’s team. All of these ideas will inform a nationwide design competition launched in March to imagine the new park.
But we need to be more than aspirational. We need results. To understand the ways that access to green space, farmers markets, planting festivals and kayak launches may improve health outcomes, we are implementing a Health Impact Assessment. This baseline data of residential health will enable a comparative analysis after the 11th Street Bridge Park opens in 2017/2018. If we’re successful, we can make a solid link between health and place — and build a bridge to a healthier Washington, DC.
