Urban Planning

A sidewalk behind an complex of buildings.

Prevention Research Center of Michigan tackles vacant lots, built environments to improve health, well-being

Renewed $5 million in CDC funding expands academic-community partnerships in Flint, Michigan

For 26 years, the Prevention Research Center of Michigan has researched ways to create safer, more inviting and accessible neighborhood spaces and improve physical and mental health. Now, with $5 million in renewed funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the center will continue its community-based participatory research projects through at least 2029.

Isabelle Anguelovski

Michigan Public Health launches new speaker series, The Exchange: Critical Conversations with Michigan Public Health

The University of Michigan Public Health School of Public Health launched the inaugural event of its new speaker series, The Exchange: Critical Conversations with Michigan Public Health, on Nov. 8. The theme of the event, “The Future of Healthy Cities,” aligns with a core topic from the school's research initiative, Public Health IDEAS for Creating Health and Equitable Cities.

An overgrown vacant lot

$1.2M grant to support research on vacant lot reuse and community violence prevention

A new study led by University of Michigan School of Public Health researchers will examine the impact of high vacancy in urban areas on the rate of violence. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention provided a three-year grant of $1.2 million to investigate the short- and long-term effects of vacant lot reuse projects on total violent crime incidents and injury.