research 2006

During the summer of 2006, the Ford Foundation commissioned a summer study with Project for Public Spaces and our senior research fellow Robin Moon to examine markets’ role in achieving broader impacts of health. This work was based on the following premises:

• Markets have the potential to contribute to the economic and social development of a neighborhood and its people.

• The degree of success in these efforts is at least partially dependent on the community's health status.
  

The main objectives of the study explored the following questions:

• Can markets influence the health challenges of the twenty-first century? Are they effective in addressing some of the issues described as the social determinants of health?

• How can public health influence markets to help achieve a “double bottom-line”: market profitability and community health?
  

By the end of the summer, we accomplished the following:

• We examined the linkages between the socioeconomic status and health,

• We examined what public markets already do to impact neighborhood well-being, for both supply-side (producers and vendors) and demand-side (consumers) and

• We designed a model for markets to more effectively promote community health with community development.
  
  

  For more information refer to the following documents:
  
  
  Position Paper 2006
  Executive Summary
  Position Paper Appendix
  (includes research narratives and summaries)