Atlanta BeltLine Health Impact Assessment (2007)
Timeframe: March 2005 to May 2007
Sponsor/Client: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Project Scale: sub-city
Partners: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Program Areas:
The Atlanta BeltLine would convert a 22-mile span of freight railway into a transit and trail loop, surrounded by parks and residential and commercial development. While many people enter debates about the architectural style, density, or purpose of a new development, everyone can agree that a development should contribute to the health of the people who live, work, and go to school there. But when we start a new development project, are we building a healthy place? How do we understand the health impacts of a new development? To answer these questions for the Atlanta BeltLine redevelopment project, CQGRD conducted a Health Impact Assessment (HIA). An HIA is a collection of procedures and tools by which projects, policies, and programs can be evaluated based on their potential effects on the health of a population and the distribution of those effects within the population. While the HIA tool is widely used abroad, the BeltLine HIA is one of the first conducted in the United States. This ambitious redevelopment, once realized, would begin to transform Atlanta into a city connected by transit, trails, and green space with significant health consequences.
Final Report
Atlanta BeltLine Health Impact Assessment (2007)
Presentations
