In my public health seminar, the students read Dr. David Hilfiker’s book, Urban Injustice, How Ghettos Happen. Dr. Hilfiker clearly articulates the complex history of urban poverty and explores the weaknesses and strengths of societal responses to poverty. As a physician, he focuses on the need for access to healthcare as one of the essential ingredients for breaking the poverty trap.
While casually perusing Dwell magazine the other day, I came across a novel perspective on curbing urban blight. The article was about a young couple who focus their talent in design and architecture to affect sustainable social change in diverse and economically troubled areas. The result is the Detroit based Power House Project, which purchased a foreclosed home in a rough and tumble area of Detroit for $1900. The home serves now as the demonstration center and network for sustainable design and urban renovation, running through solar power and wind energy. It is a partnership of creative professionals, artists, architects, laborers, and social geographers interested in this neighborhood as an experiment in sustainable design, social change and urban rejuvenation. The project has now expanded to include 10 homes in the neighborhood.This movement will likely not impact traditional health measures. However, thinking outside of the (public health) box, it may foster a greater sense of personal and community satisfaction in economically challenged neighborhoods, a precursor to healthy living.
Well done.
