Special Interview: Joanna Frank
Joanna Frank is the President & CEO of the Center for Active Design (CfAD), where she advances design and development practices to foster healthy and engaged communities. The Center for Active Design is the operator for Fitwel, a unique building certification that positively impacts occupant health and productivity through an integrated approach to workplace design and operations. Fitwel’s development was led by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the General Services Administration (GSA). Prior to launching CfAD, Ms. Frank worked for the City of New York during the Bloomberg Administration, where her positions included Director of Active Design and Director of the NYC FRESH program. Before working for the City, Ms. Frank was a Partner at Bright City Development, LLC where she was responsible for the development of mixed-use residential buildings using sustainable design criteria. Ms. Frank is a member of the Urban Land Institute's Affordable/Workforce Housing Council and the National Council of State Housing Agencies’ Advisory Group on Financing Healthier Affordable Housing, as well as an active partner in ULI's Building Healthy Places initiative.
The theme ofThe theme of this year's Seoul Design International Forum is 'Re-connect: Design as a value creator'. What do you think the city government should do to improve the value in the cities and in the lives of their citizen through design? And for that, how should the city's design organization be structured?
To improve value and enhance the lives of citizens, city governments must take decisive steps to ensure health outcomes—and health equity—are at the forefront of built environment decision making.
At the Center for Active Design (CfAD), we translate rigorous public health research into practical tools to support healthier buildings and communities. Decades of research have demonstrated that our built environment—or the buildings, streets, and neighborhoods where we live, work, play, move, study, relax, pray and socialize—has a major influence on our health and well-being. The design, maintenance, and governance of cites shape our daily experiences, and the COVID-19 pandemic has further reinforced this understanding that public health is a cornerstone that enables the functioning and strengthening of our society.
NYC’s Active Design Guidelines, which were originally published in 2010, demonstrated how designers and policymakers could shape the built environment to support physical activity and reduce chronic disease rates. Today, we are collaborating with the City of New York to update the Active Design Guidelines based on the latest research and best practices, and have some key takeaways to offer from this work:
We must consider health holistically. Over the past ten years, a significant body of public health research shows that the built environment can influence a wide range of holistic health outcomes—affecting everything from mental health, to social cohesion, to perceptions of safety and civic trust.
Community engagement is essential. To effectively address health inequities and unravel discrimination embedded in built environment policies and practices, we must make deliberate efforts to shift decision-making power toward communities and populations that have been left out of the process. Local residents are the experts on their daily experience, and leveraging that expertise is essential to achieving maximum health benefits.
City agencies must work together. Society’s starkest challenges require collaborative innovation. Inter-agency and cross-sector collaboration are preconditions for transforming built environments to support health. From data-sharing, to transparent goal-setting and decision-making, collaboration is an essential tool in optimizing cities for all.
We look forward to redefining “Active Design” to embrace holistic outcomes and processes that actively address neighborhood priorities and facilitate meaningful community participation in decision-making. In this way, health equity can be placed at the forefront of decisions impacting transportation options, educational spaces, the quality and affordability of housing, neighborhood safety, exposure to pollution, access to fresh fruits and vegetables, recreation opportunities, and much more.
If there is an important case as an example of efforts made by city governments or public institutions to create social value, please introduce it.
In 2018, CfAD released the Assembly: Civic Design Guidelines, a groundbreaking playbook which demonstrates that well-designed and well-maintained public spaces can be a force for building trust and healing divisions in local communities.
Assembly captures four years of research and collaboration, with input from 200+ studies, 50+ cities, and dozens of expert advisors. We drew upon research and expert insights to identify four key civic life outcomes (civic trust and appreciation, participation in public life, stewardship of the public realm, and informed local voting). These outcomes are associated with a range of important co-benefits, including lower mortality rates, lower crime rates, and more equitable economic conditions.
Assembly establishes eight evidence-based guidelines to support civic life, addressing such topics as maintenance, nature access, community identity and more. These concepts are illustrated with a range of project examples, including:
• Detroit Riverfront Conservancy: This public-private partnership has prioritized extensive community engagement while maximizing access to the city’s waterfront. What was once a decaying industrial area has been transformed into three miles of linear parks that attract three million visitors each year. Free and low-cost programing make the riverfront a place for all Detroiters to come together and take pride in their city.
