Catalyzing Health Equity through Design: A Place-Based Approach to Community Revitalization

To advance public health, equity and sustainability in a marginalized community, what role can the partnership among academia, local government and practice play? In what ways can we integrate an impactful community engagement into the design curriculum? Such notion of engaged scholarship is inquired in the latest collaborative project of our research lab on Design for Health: Advancing Built Environment Performance through Equitable, Ecological and Sustainable Developments. In partnership with the City of Sandy Springs, GA, a team of undergraduate architecture students at Kennesaw State University mapped the health equity within the built setting of a disadvantaged community in Sandy Springs that is challenged by air quality, flooding, lack of walkability and an overall low quality of public life. Composed mostly of low and moderate-income LatinX families, the neighborhood is home to approximately 1,600 multifamily units, mostly rental. To avoid the displacement of vulnerable residents in a challenging housing market, the lab aimed at enhancing the existing assets through proposed high-impact sustainable design strategies such as improving connectivity and accessibility to nature thus increasing social cohesion and prioritizing the residents’ well-being. The inter-disciplinary research team sought means to create healthier, more equitable and ecologically balanced built environments by providing design solutions to address climate-related impacts, improve the quality of life at a low cost to landlords and to naturally stabilize rental rates, catalyzing the intersections among ecological and socio-economic aspects of the community. This project is strategized as a first phase and envisions a holistic model to further engage the community, nonprofit organizations and property owners, to generate tangible results. As long-term outcomes, the team seeks to develop sustainable innovative design solutions and actions addressing environmental vulnerabilities and fostering climate resilience through enforcement of environmental regulations and policy-making.

https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AIA.Inter.21.22

Volume Editors
Rico Quirindongo & Georgeen Theodore

ISBN
978-1-944214-39-5