Sustainable Communities: bio

Jason Hight

Jason Hight (MS, Geography) currently works with the Florida Department of Health. He is primarily responsible for www.FloridaCHARTS.com, the department's vital statistics Web site. This award-winning Web site provides a wealth of health data, profile reports and mapping applications for Florida's vital statistics. Hight's graduate work focused on urban geography and the redevelopment of urban areas. Before joining the Department of Health, Hight was a policy analyst with the Florida Legislature. His work there focused on similar geographic-based topics while reviewing and evaluating state agencies and programs. The distressed areas research tool he helped create is still used today to target areas for economic development and evaluate existing programs.

Presentation Topics

Health and Sustainable Development
Planning for sustainable development and healthy communities in the face of rapid population growth depends on good design, transi-oriented developments and affodrable housing. This session will review the scientific evidence that links health and the built environment specifically related to these issues. It will cover where to find data to enhance planning for health and sustainable development. It will provide national examples of integratng planning, economic development and healthy communities' initiatives.