Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space

"A community’s physical form, rather than its land uses, is its most intrinsic and enduring characteristic." [Katz, EPA] This blog focuses on place and placemaking and all that makes it work--historic preservation, urban design, transportation, asset-based community development, arts & cultural development, commercial district revitalization, tourism & destination development, and quality of life advocacy--along with doses of civic engagement and good governance watchdogging.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Speaking of public spaces and public health

According to the Guardian, "Smoking bans may reduce heart attacks by more than a third." From the article:

Two independent health reviews have found that heart attack rates dropped steeply in areas where bans have been introduced, with one reporting 36% fewer cases three years after smoke-free legislation came in.

Smoking in pubs, restaurants and other public spaces was banned in England and Wales in 2007, a year after similar laws were introduced in Scotland. The Scottish ban led to a 14% fall in the number of people being admitted to hospital with a heart attack the following year.

A Department of Health study of heart attack rates in England and Wales is not due to report until next year, but experts believe the number of cases in the regions has already fallen by around 10% as a result of the smoking ban.

(A similar result was found in a state like Colorado, where a community passed a smoking ban, and after a year or so, it was overturned. Epidemiologists studied the heart attack rates during the ban and after.)

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