About Health+Design Initiative

Our Mission

The Health+Design Initiative (HDI) at the University of Colorado Denver College of Architecture and Planning is dedicated to integrating health into the planning and design of communities. Our work is grounded in the belief that the built environment — how communities are designed, where homes and services are located, how streets and parks are shaped — has a profound effect on the health of the people who live, work, and play there.

HDI develops practical tools, conducts interdisciplinary research and studio-based education, builds professional networks, and shares knowledge with practitioners, communities, and policymakers across Colorado and beyond. Our goal is to help ensure that health is a central — not peripheral — consideration in how places are planned and designed.

Our History

HDI was founded with support from a generous multi-year grant from the Colorado Health Foundation, awarded in 2016 to the College of Architecture and Planning. The grant funded the Creating Healthy Places through Transformational Education and Design project, a multi-year initiative that brought together graduate students across architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, planning, and public health.

The project generated a studio series centered on Denver's Sun Valley neighborhood, produced practical tools including the Health Assessment Lens and the GuideBox to Healthy Places, and catalyzed the formation of the Colorado Healthy Places Collaborative — a statewide network of organizations committed to creating healthier communities.

Our Approach

HDI organizes community health around eight interconnected categories: Equity and Justice, Human Wellbeing, Harmony with Nature, Education and Wellness, Economic Resiliency, Healthy Homes and Buildings, Healthy Community, and Healthy Connections. This framework recognizes that health is multidimensional — shaped by everything from the quality of housing to the presence of green space, the availability of economic opportunity, and the strength of community social networks.

Our tools and resources are designed to be accessible to practitioners across disciplines — not just public health professionals, but architects, planners, landscape architects, urban designers, and community decision-makers who may not have formal training in health but whose work directly affects health outcomes.

Our Work

Our Institution

HDI is housed in the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado Denver. The College offers graduate programs in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Urban and Regional Planning, Urban Design, and Historic Preservation. Located on the downtown Denver campus, the College is embedded in one of the fastest-growing and most dynamic urban regions in the country — making it an ideal context for research on health and the built environment.

CU Denver is part of the University of Colorado system and serves a diverse student population with strong ties to the Denver metropolitan area. The College's location and professional networks enable HDI to connect academic research with real-world planning and design practice in communities across Colorado.

HDI is located at 1380 Lawrence Street, Suite 300, Denver, CO 80204. To contact the Initiative, visit our Contact page.

Copyright

© The Regents of the University of Colorado. All materials developed by HDI, including the Health Assessment Lens, GuideBox, and associated publications, are the intellectual property of the University of Colorado. These resources are made available for educational and professional use. Please contact HDI for information about permissions and usage rights.