In July, ULI launched a new initiative focused on the interconnections between health and the built environment. The Building Healthy Places Initiative is leveraging the power of ULI’s global networks to shape projects and places in ways that improve the health of people and communities.

New ULI Report on Housing, Health, and Resilience

A new ULI report, Housing in America: Integrating Health, Housing, and Resilience in a Changing Environment, explores the links between housing, community health, and resilience to extreme weather. The report—the latest in the Housing in America series—was prepared by the ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing and the Building Healthy Places Initiative. It will be released at ULI’s Building the Resilient City conference in San Francisco next week, and available for download here by September 5.

Building Healthy Places at the ULI Fall Meeting

ULI’s 2014 Fall Meeting, to be held October 21–23 in New York City, will feature rich content about how to create healthy places and communities. Can’t-miss sessions on Wednesday, October 22, include:

• Housing and Health: From Research to Real Deals
• Growing Food, Neighborhoods, and Profits
• Building Healthy Places: Development Strategies That Work for Health and the Bottom Line

Thursday, October 23, will start with an 8 a.m. “Pop-up Café” highlighting the new WELL Building Standard, where meeting attendees will have the chance to meet and network. Register for the Fall Meeting here and read more about the Building Healthy Places sessions here.

Hummingbird Pointe apartments in Parma, Ohio.

District Council Building Healthy Places Programming

ULI’s District and National Councils are connecting members with opportunities to lead on health. Read about these efforts here.

• ULI Cleveland. Healthy places include a range of housing options. ULI Cleveland recently hosted a program on healthy multifamily housing which featured Hummingbird Pointe in Parma, Ohio, a redevelopment project by Forest City.
• ULI Colorado. ULI Colorado has been actively promoting the creation of healthier places. Recent activities include a health-focused salon and two community workshops. Two additional programs are planned for the fall.
• ULI Houston. Having hosted several events exploring health and development already, ULI Houston staff was invited to present on the topic during a meeting of the Houston Mayor’s Healthy Houston Task Force.
• ULI St. Louis. ULI members in St. Louis are making health-related connections. A new report from two local universities explores the economic impacts of poor health in the St. Louis area, and why it matters to everyone.

Pedestrian walkway in the Kentlands (Trish Donnally).

Building Healthy Places Articles and Posts

• Report from the Colorado Health Symposium. In mid-July, ULI participated in the Colorado Health Foundation’s 2014 Colorado Health Symposium, one of the country’s leading health policy conferences.
• Variety Yields Vibrancy. This Urban Land article discusses the role of historic preservation and smaller, older buildings in creating vibrant neighborhoods.
• Finalists Announced for Urban Open Space Awards. Great public spaces are an important health asset. Five parks—from Ohio, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas—were recently announced as finalists for ULI’s 2014 Urban Open Space Award. Winners will be announced at the Fall Meeting.
• The 25th Anniversary of the Kentlands. The Kentlands, a 352-acre walkable neotraditional community in Gaithersburg, Maryland, recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. In addition to its pedestrian orientation, the Kentlands features a range of housing types, narrow streets, pocket parks, and a mix of uses.

Connect with the ULI Building Healthy Places Initiative

E-mail: Join the Building Healthy Places mailing list by e-mailing [email protected].
Website: www.uli.org/health.
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