skip to content

It's a New Day in Public Health.

The Florida Department of Health works to protect, promote & improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county, & community efforts.

skip to content
 

Built Environment

Contact the Bureau of Environmental Health

What is Health and the Built Environment?
Connections between health and the built environment
State Health Improvement Plan
Training materials

What is Health and the Built Environment?

From the American Journal of Public Health:

The built environment includes our homes, schools, workplaces, parks/recreation areas, business areas and roads.  It extends overhead in the form of electric transmission lines, underground in the form of waste disposal sites and subway trains, and across the country in the form of highways.  The built environment encompasses all buildings, spaces and products that are created or modified by people.  It impacts indoor and outdoor physical environments (e.g., weather conditions and indoor/outdoor air quality), as well as social environments (e.g., civic participation, community capacity and investment) and subsequently our health and quality of life. 

(Source: Am J Public Health. 2003 September; 93(9): 1446–1450.) 

Back to Top

Connections between health and the built environment

Back to Top

State Health Improvement Plan

The following are Environmental Health objectives:

CR1.1.1
By Dec. 31, 2013, DOH and the Florida Association of Health Planning Agencies will develop and share model health-related language for comprehensive plans.

CR1.2.4
By Dec. 31, 2015, DOH will work with the Department of Transportation and the Department of Environmental Protection to increase the number of municipalities, counties and regions that have complete streets policies for implementing Section 335.065, Florida Statutes, from 13 in 2011 to 26.

CR2.2.1
By Sept. 30, 2012, the Department of Education and DOH will identify and disseminate model practices and policies that promote biking, walking and using public transportation to school or work.

Model language for policies

Complete streets and public health

Back to Top

Training materials

Back to Top

*Note: This page contains materials in the Portable Document Format (PDF). The free Adobe Reader may be required to view these files.