An introduction to the intersection of the built environment and public health

This paper presents the emerging field of the effect on health of various aspects of the built environment and the new link between the worlds of planning and public health. A need was identified to translate current theory and process in the field for practicing primary care physicians to the end that they may choose to adapt a more "upstream" approach to preventive medicine principles in their patients' lives. This paper serves as the oeuvre for a CME presentation the author can then give to interested and appropriate groups of healthcare professionals. Introduction to the field is accomplished via presentation of current literature and the on-going work being accomplished by particular individuals in the various, related disciplines. Careful attention is given to empirically-based work objectively defining healthy design. Finally, practical and specific suggestions are made for how the physician may enter the healthy-by-design nexus.