Regional Planning for Health

As one of the world’s largest and most diverse metropolitan areas, New York City has also been a leader in thinking about how to promote health by improving physical structures, social conditions, and the natural environment. It is also the home of an independent, nonprofit, civic institution, the Regional Plan Association (RPA), that has worked to improve the prosperity, sustainability, and quality of life in the NYC metropolitan region for the past 90 years. In this case study, the authors tells the story of how the RPA reconnected health and equity with planning in the Fourth Regional Plan for Metropolitan New York. The chapter also discusses the strengths and limitations, the lessons learned, and the challenges related to implementation of the Plan.