Can Land-Use Decisions Prevent Violence?

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• How land-use decisions and investments shape the root causes of violence and how resilience efforts can keep communities safe
• Tools and strategies to support effective collaboration between violence-prevention and land-use professionals
• What is needed to build violence-prevention strategies into land-use policies and practices

MORE SESSION DETAILS

Violence is preventable, yet it is a persistent problem, both in the United States and globally. Land-use and planning strategies can profoundly shape how communities are designed, whose perspectives are included in planning processes, and how land-use policies are implemented. With an eye toward creating safer communities for all residents, practitioners working to prevent violence can — and should — work alongside planners and policymakers to enhance community safety. Land-use decisions and investments can either perpetuate historical inequities or uplift resources, institutions, and opportunities that foster civic participation, community connectedness, and neighborhood empowerment— all key violence-prevention strategies. Speakers will illuminate the connections between land-use decisions, crime, trauma, violence prevention, and public health. Participants will learn about community-based initiatives in Los Angeles that prevent violence through land-use approaches, and innovative land-use policies that center equity, safety, and health. Together with participants, speakers will explore how people working on land use, transportation, food, housing, violence prevention, public health can effectively collaborate to support community safety and well being, as well as scale up successful programs into policy and systems change.