Adele Houghton and Matt Kiefer think the real estate industry needs to do a better job of understanding the health effects of development. In a recent article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review called “How Real Estate Development Can Boost Urban Health,” they propose using a public health method called health situation analysis to define, measure and address public health issues in a context-sensitive way, especially in low-income communities and communities of color who are often most at-risk. When applied to commercial real estate development, they argue health situation analysis can transform the public approval process by centering neighborhood health and well-being in ways that are clear to local residents and community members.

Matt and Adele also suggest that their approach can reorient value creation in real estate from the property itself to a project’s broader effects on the surrounding neighborhood. They see health situation analysis redefining value so that the most profitable project is also the one that provides the greatest benefits to local populations and the planet itself.  

Adele Houghton is president of Biositu, LLC, and a lecturer at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where she earned her PhD. Matthew Kiefer is a director of Goulston & Storrs, a Boston-based law firm, and a lecturer at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.