U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Neighborhood and Built Environment

Goal: Create neighborhoods and environments that promote health and safety.

A buildings icon overlays a city park with red and brown leaves lying on a paved trail on an autumn day.

The neighborhoods people live in have a major impact on their health and well-being.1  Healthy People 2030 focuses on improving health and safety in the places where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age.

Many people in the United States live in neighborhoods with high rates of violence, unsafe air or water, and other health and safety risks. Racial/ethnic minorities and people with low incomes are more likely to live in places with these risks. In addition, some people are exposed to things at work that can harm their health, like secondhand smoke or loud noises.

Interventions and policy changes at the local, state, and federal level can help reduce these health and safety risks and promote health. For example, providing opportunities for people to walk and bike in their communities — like by adding sidewalks and bike lanes — can increase safety and help improve health and quality of life.

Objective Status

  • 2 Target met or exceeded
  • 3 Improving
  • 10 Little or no detectable change
  • 2 Getting worse
  • 5 Baseline only
  • 6 Developmental
  • 1 Research

Learn more about objective types

Related Objectives

The following is a sample of objectives related to this topic. Some objectives may include population data.

Neighborhood and Built Environment — General

Reduce the rate of minors and young adults committing violent crimes — AH‑10
Baseline only
Increase the proportion of schools with policies and practices that promote health and safety — EH‑D01
Developmental
Increase the proportion of adults with broadband internet — HC/HIT‑05
Getting worse

Environmental Health

Increase the proportion of people whose water supply meets Safe Drinking Water Act regulations — EH‑03
Target met or exceeded
Reduce the amount of toxic pollutants released into the environment — EH‑06
Target met or exceeded
Reduce health and environmental risks from hazardous sites — EH‑05
Improving
Reduce the number of days people are exposed to unhealthy air — EH‑01
LHI label
Little or no detectable change

Health Policy

Increase the proportion of people whose water systems have the recommended amount of fluoride — OH‑11
Baseline only

Housing and Homes

Reduce the proportion of families that spend more than 30 percent of income on housing — SDOH‑04
Little or no detectable change
Reduce blood lead levels in children aged 1 to 5 years — EH‑04
Baseline only

Injury Prevention

Reduce deaths from motor vehicle crashes — IVP‑06
Getting worse

People with Disabilities

Increase the proportion of homes that have an entrance without steps — DH‑04
Improving

Physical Activity

Increase the proportion of adults who walk or bike to get places — PA‑10
Little or no detectable change
Increase the proportion of adolescents who walk or bike to get places — PA‑11
Baseline only

Respiratory Disease

Reduce asthma deaths — RD‑01
Little or no detectable change
Reduce emergency department visits for children under 5 years with asthma — RD‑02
Little or no detectable change
Reduce emergency department visits for people aged 5 years and over with asthma — RD‑03
Little or no detectable change
Reduce asthma attacks — RD‑04
Little or no detectable change
Reduce hospitalizations for asthma in children under 5 years — RD‑D01
Developmental
Reduce hospitalizations for asthma in people aged 5 to 64 years — RD‑D02
Developmental
Reduce hospitalizations for asthma in adults aged 65 years and over — RD‑D03
Developmental
Reduce hospitalizations for COPD — RD‑D04
Developmental

Sensory or Communication Disorders

Reduce the proportion of adults who have hearing loss due to noise exposure — HOSCD‑09
Baseline only

Tobacco Use

Increase the proportion of smoke-free homes — TU‑18
Improving
Increase the number of states, territories, and DC that prohibit smoking in worksites, restaurants, and bars — TU‑17
Little or no detectable change
Reduce the proportion of people who don't smoke but are exposed to secondhand smoke — TU‑19
Little or no detectable change
Increase the number of states, territories, and DC that prohibit smoking in multiunit housing — TU‑R01
Research

Transportation

Increase trips to work made by mass transit — EH‑02
Little or no detectable change

Workplace

Increase the proportion of worksites with policies that ban indoor smoking — ECBP‑D06
Developmental

Other topics you may be interested in

References

1.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018).  Social Determinants of Health: Know What Affects Health. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/socialdeterminants/index.htmThis link is external to odphp.health.gov.