March 31--The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to add to its general plan a section aimed at bridging sharp health disparities between neighborhoods.
The new health guidelines include goals such as improving access to grocery stores, increasing life expectancy, adding park space, reducing motor vehicle crashes, increasing the number of low-cost day care centers and beautifying the community.
Experts say the action reflects a broader shift in official thinking about health policy. The plan acknowledges that health is affected by a complex web of social conditions in neighborhoods that are fundamentally linked to city planning.
"They're not isolated pieces -- you can't just fix one thing and you're going to solve health for everybody," said senior city planner Claire Bowin.
The guidelines -- which will become the Health and Wellness Element of the general plan -- are aimed at reducing stark differences in health measures highlighted in a recent city analysis.
For instance, residents in Brentwood live an average of 12 years longer than those in Watts, and more than 30% of children in South L.A. are obese compared with fewer than 12% in Brentwood.
The analysis found that the communities suffering from more health problems were also those disadvantaged in other ways -- lacking access to affordable housing, transportation and open space.
In one example of how the built environment affects people's behavior, research has shown that people who feel unsafe in their neighborhoods or don't have a park within walking distance are less likely to exercise.
Overall, Los Angeles has 8.9 acres of park space per 1,000 residents, exceeding the accepted standard of 3 acres per 1,000 residents. But in many L.A. communities, the ratio is less than one acre per 1,000 residents.
Officially acknowledging "how problematic and challenging these issues are, and how much they affect the health and the lives of so many members of our community" will encourage city officials to prioritize them in policy decisions, Bowin said.
Tuesday's action did not include new money or resources to accomplish the community health goals, although officials expect the document to help guide planning activity. For example, city officials would be obligated to consider health disparities and outcomes when updating zoning laws or allocating resources for public libraries.
Matt Raimi, a consultant who worked on L.A.'s plan and similar projects in other California cities, said L.A.'s adoption of the health plan is part of a recent trend that acknowledges "how the decisions that planners make affect people's health."
He said that the city needs to follow through and fund programs that will help improve health in L.A.
"Adopting the health element is not the end of the process; it's the beginning," he said.
The new health plan is a joint effort of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, the city's Planning Commission and the California Endowment, with funding from the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.
UPDATE
1:58 p.m.: This post was updated to reflect the City Council's vote.
The original version of this post was published at 7:18 a.m.
