Introduction to Planning, Policy and Public Health
Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Spring 2012
(10:762:101:06)
Room 109 Cook Douglas Lecture Hall – 3 College Farm Road
Thursday 5:35 PM to 8:35 PM
Instructor: Paul M. Drake, MCRP, AICP, PP
E-mail: drake2plan@yahoo.com
pmdrake@rci.rutgers.edu
Cell Phone: 908-872-3790
Office Hours: By Appointment on class days
Purpose/Goal:
COURSE DESCRIPTION
In 2012, the United States continues to face an epidemic of health issues including high levels of
stress, diabetes, cancer and other diseases attributed to our sedentary lifestyles. All the while, we
have tolerated the design of chain store architecture and a dependence on the automobile, which
has replaced the oldest form of transportation we know – our feet. Charting the right course for
our future requires a team of generalists, including planners and public health professionals, who
understand the complexity of the many supporting and opposing forces that influence public policy.
This course will introduce students to many of the policy decision-making processes in the fields of
urban planning and public health. These fields share common and often complex relationships that
call out for an integrated approach to how we interact with local communities and collectively, our
planet. Planners and public health professionals share a unique responsibility to protect the public
interest throughout the decision making process. This is often not easy when faced with competing
interests at times when planning and policy decisions are being formulated by small towns as well
as big cities and in the laws and regulations of New Jersey and the many branches of the Federal
government.
This course will introduce students to the theoretical principals and professional practices involved
in urban planning and public health. The reading assignments and class discussions will cover
practical topics that are shaping the two professions while group exercises will provide students
with practical experience. Wherever possible, this course will include local and state examples
from New Jersey.
Course Objectives:
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
1. Identify and describe the key urban planning and public health issues that affect public
policy formation and apply these issues to making practical decisions regarding urban
planning and public health.
2. Understand the inter-relationship between urban planning and public health
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3. Research public health and urban planning issues at the municipal level and recognize these
visual signs in a community through a collaborative, active-learning, investigative team
project and presentation.
Required Readings:
Various Reading Assignments, which are detailed below and will be posted as a PDF on Sakai.
COURSE POLICIES
Rutgers University’s Academic Integrity Policy:
Academic misconduct includes cheating, plagiarism, failure to cite sources, fabrication and
falsification, stealing ideas, and deliberate slanting of research designs to achieve a pre-conceived
result. Misconduct will not be tolerated. Penalties for misconduct can range from failing an
assignment/exam or the class to even dismissal from the university.
Students are expected to attend all classes; if you expect to miss one or two classes, please use the
University absence reporting website https://sims.rutgers.edu/ssra/ to indicate the date and reason for your
absence. An email is automatically sent to me.
The
University’s
Academic
Integrity
Policy
can
be
found
at:
http://academicintegrity.rutgers.edu/integrity.shtml#. For addition information, you will find the
Bloustein School’s perspective on academic misconduct on the last page of this syllabus.
Student Responsibilities:
Compliance to the following guidelines will ensure that each student benefits from class lectures
and discussions:
a. You are expected to follow the Rutgers Academic Integrity Policy.
b. Be on time – Class starts promptly
c. You are expected to be non-disruptive during class. Side conversations, verbal insults,
reading non-related course material, working on your computer, surfing the web, texting, emailing, use of cell phones or listening to music or recording of lectures is not permitted in
class.
d. Laptops may will used in class with my permission for note taking only.
GRADING & POLICIES
Grade Distribution
Attendance /Class Participation/Public Meeting Summary 20%
In class Mid-Term Exam: 25%
Take-home Final Exam 15%
Research Paper: 20%
Class Project & Group Presentation: 20%
Extra Credit - TBD
Attendance & Class Participation
Attendance and class participation is mandatory, especially when guest speakers are scheduled,
since the class format is not solely lecture-oriented. Please note that attendance and participation
will count significantly towards your final grade for the class. Each student will be expected to
contribute to the discussion with respect to the readings and in-class discussions. It is expected
that regular class reading will be completed prior to class when assigned so that discussions can be
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held in class.
Public Meeting Summary: Students will also be expected to attend a public meeting as
discussed in class and to prepare a summary of the topic discussed. Details to be provided.
Mid-Term Exam: This exam will focus on the topics discussed in class and in the readings
assigned. The MID TERM WILL BE TAKEN IN CLASS ON SAKAI ON INDIVIDUAL LAPTOPS. Please
advise me if you do not have access to a laptop.
Final Exam: This exam will be a TAKE HOME exam on Sakai covering readings and in class
discussions since the MID-TERM EXAM.
Term Research Paper: Each student will be required to research and prepare a 10-page term
paper on a topic of interest and relevant to the topics discussed in class. The topic of your paper
is required to be approved in advance by me with the submission of a brief outline and an
introductory paragraph. The format of the paper will follow the outline to be provided. Each
paper should be peer-reviewed for clarity and grammar by two of your classmates before
submission. The peer reviewers will be credited on the final paper.
The paper is an opportunity for each student to reflect on and ANALYZE a topic of interest in the
world of planning and public health. The paper should be organized in a clear way and
demonstrate an advocacy or adverse position for the topic. Note: The paper will be required to be
submitted on-line through Sakai and will be run through software that checks for plagiarism. Late
papers will not be accepted.
Class Project: This project is intended to be very interactive and visual. From the first day of
class, you can be preparing for the completion of the final project by observing the world around
you. The world is a big place but as planners and public health professionals, you have the ability to
have a positive influence on how things work. Instructions for the class project will be provided in
more detail but it will involve the taking of photographs of positive and negative images around you
in groups of three. How people react to the world around them – the images they see everyday –
has a profound affect on their physical well-being. This class project will explore these very topics
through the eyes of students and the lens of a camera and mapping tools such as Google Earth.
Reading Assignments
All readings shall be completed BEFORE the class.
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CLASS SCHEDULE
SPRING 2012
WEEK 1 - Thursday, January 19
INTRODUCTIONS and COURSE OVERVIEW No Required Readings
WEEK 2 – Thursday, January 26 – ORIGINS OF URBAN PLANNING
Exercise 1: Mock Public meeting and discussion
WEEK 3 – Thursday February 2, History of Urban Planning
Required Readings:
 Required Readings: Coburn, Jason (2009). “Toward the Healthy City: People, Places, and the
Politics of Urban Planning”. Read Chapter 2
o Discussion of Term Paper – Topic Due February 16thh
 Discussion of Assignment 1: Required Attendance at a Public Meeting
o Assignment 1 due for Week 7 submission
WEEK 4 – Thursday, February 9
PUBLIC STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION
 Required Readings: Jane Jacobs – Chapter 21 – Governing and Planning Districts
 Required Reading Sherri Arndt, Ladder of Citizen Public Participation
 Assign Groups for Group Projects
WEEK 5 – Thursday, February 16
OVERVIEW OF STATE AND FEDERAL REGULATIONS AFFECTING PUBLIC HEALTH
WHAT IS “CLEAN” AND THE ROLE OF SCIENCE IN PUBLIC HEALTH
Assignment Due: Submit topic of Term paper through Sakai
Required Readings: Frumkin, Howard (2004) Urban Sprawl and Public Health
 Read Chapter 3 “The Evolution of Urban Health”
Required Reading: Public Health Practice Standards NJAC __________
Read: Camara v. Municipal Court of the City and the County of San Francisco
WEEK 6 – Thursday, February 23
Understanding the Fundamentals of Epidemiology
Read Victor J. Schoenbach, Ph.D, Preface through Chapter 4 (pgs 1 - 84)
Read Chapter 3: Physical Activity and Public Health
WEEK 7 – Thursday, March 1
OVERVIEW OF STATE AND FEDERAL REGULATIONS AFFECTING LAND USE
INFRASTRUCTURE SEWERS AND POTABLE WATER
 Read Chapter 5: the Legal Basis of Planning
 Read Chapter 7 “WATER QUANTITY AND QUALITY”
 Assignment 1 DUE PRIOR TO CLASS: Submit written summary of
Public Meeting
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WEEK 8 – Thursday March 8 MID TERM EXAM - Guest Speaker
for 2nd half of class
WEEK 9 – Thursday March 15 SPRING BREAK – NO CLASS
WEEK 10 - Thursday March 22 -
ORIGINS OF SPRAWL AND ITS IMPACT ON PUBLIC HEALTH, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY,
 Frumkin, Howard (2004). “Urban Sprawl and Public Health: Designing, Planning, and
Building for Healthy Communities”. Read Chapters 1 and 2
WEEK 11 – Thursday March 29
DESIGNING WALKABLE COMMUNITIES
Required Readings:
 Frank, Lawrence (2003) “Health and Community Design: The Impact of the Built
Environment on Physical Activity.” Read Chapter 3
 Kunstler, James Howard, The Geography of Nowhere, Read Chapter 12, Capitals of
Unreality
WEEK 12 Thursday April 5 FOOD, HEALTH AND OBESITY
 Required Readings: “Toward the Healthy City: People, Places, and the Politics of Urban
Planning”. Read Chapter 5 – Reframing Environmental Health Practice
o RESEARCH PAPER DUE Sunday April 8, 2012 by 10:00 PM to SAKAI
WEEK 13: Thursday April 12 Guest Speaker
 Class Project Meet with group members/work session
WEEK 14 Thursday April 19 CLASS PROJECT GROUP PRESENTATIONS
WEEK 15: Thursday April 26 CLASS PROJECT GROUP PRESENTATIONS
WEEK 16: Thursday May 5 ONLINE FINAL EXAM
– TAKE HOME on
Sakai
Academic Misconduct: A Bloustein School Perspective
Academic misconduct includes cheating, plagiarism, failure to cite sources, fabrication and
falsification, stealing ideas, and deliberate slanting of research designs to achieve a pre-conceived
result. We talk about misconduct and ethical behavior in classes and expectations are set forth in
student handbooks and catalogues. For example, it is presented on pages 545-547 in the New
Brunswick Undergraduate Catalogue for the years 2003 through 2005 and on pages 16-18 of the
Edward J. Bloustein catalogue for the years 2003 through 2005. We are not repeating that material
here. Note, however, that penalties for misconduct can range from failing an assignment/exam or
dismissal from the university.
The Bloustein School is appending this memorandum to your course syllabus because we recently
have detected obvious cases of plagiarism. We have found far fewer cases of other forms of
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academic misconduct, but we find several every year. It is imperative that you understand that
unethical academic conduct is intolerable, and it is completely preventable.
Academic misconduct almost always happens for two reasons. One is ignorance of academic rules
and practices. For example, in virtually every recent plagiarism case in the School, material has
been taken from an Internet site and placed in text without appropriate note or attribution. You
must learn the proper rules for attribution. If you are not sure, ask your instructor! If you do not
know the rules that govern the use of data sets, attribution, analysis and reporting of these sets, the
faculty will help you. There is no such thing as a stupid question regarding this subject.
Pressure is the second common reason for academic misconduct. Students, faculty, every one of us
are subject to deadline, financial, self-worth, peer, and other pressures. If you are potentially
allowing pressure to drive you to misconduct, please step back and resist that urge. You can cope
with pressure in a positive way by reaching out to friends, counselors, and faculty members. Within
the Bloustein School community, you will find understanding people and positive direction.
The Bloustein School plays an important role in the planning and public policy agenda. Our work
and our students must be above reproach.
CANCELLATION OF CLASSES
In the event of weather or other emergency, a “Campus Operating Status” page will be posted as a
link from the New Brunswick Campus website, http://nb.rutgers.edu Please refer to this page for
updated information on closings, class cancellations or delayed openings, as well as bus schedules,
parking lot availability, and dining hall and student recreation center hours. Please do not call the
Rutgers Police for closing or class cancellation information.
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