Reimagining Denver: Urban Planning for a Healthier Future
Written By Kristen Autret, March 2025
How Can Denver Become a Walkable, Healthy, Community-Centric City?
Denver stands at a pivotal moment in urban planning. The city’s rapid growth has heightened the need for equitable development—one that prioritizes walkability, access to healthy food, community-centered public spaces, and environmental resilience. While Denver has already taken steps through initiatives like Blueprint Denver, the West Area Plan, the Green Buildings Ordinance, and the Urban Forest Strategic Plan, these efforts must go further. Urban planning is not just about zoning and infrastructure—it is a public health strategy, an economic investment, and a moral responsibility.
By expanding mixed-use development, strengthening green space protections, integrating urban agriculture into zoning, and ensuring affordability through anti-displacement measures, Denver can become a national leader in wellness-focused urban planning. This is not just an idea worth considering—it is an imperative backed by research and proven policy models.
The Intersection of Urban Planning and Public Health
Urban planning and public health have long been interconnected. Historically, cities were designed to mitigate disease outbreaks, improve air quality, and provide access to fresh food (Corburn, 2004). However, the divergence of these fields has led to gaps in policy implementation, particularly for marginalized communities.
Denver has an opportunity to reconnect these disciplines by embedding health-focused policies into its urban development strategies. Denver can strengthen its approach by recognizing that the built environment shapes well-being through several key mechanisms:
Land Use & Walkability – Mixed-use zoning creates walkable neighborhoods that reduce reliance on cars, lower emissions, and promote physical activity. Denver’s Blueprint Denver plan calls for such development, but stronger enforceable incentives are needed (Blueprint Denver, 2019).
Green Spaces & Air Quality – Parks, tree canopies, and vegetation reduce stress, mitigate heat islands, and improve air quality. Yet, many historically disinvested neighborhoods have significantly less green space (Wolch et al., 2014).
Food Access & Housing Affordability – Low-income communities often face food swamps and medical deserts, with limited grocery stores and healthcare options (Cole et al., 2023). Ensuring housing developments include food infrastructure (such as grocery co-ops and community gardens) is essential.
Expanding the Green Buildings Ordinance to Address Food Sovereignty
Denver’s Green Buildings Ordinance represents a significant step toward environmental sustainability by requiring green roofs or solar installations on new developments (Denver Green Buildings Ordinance, 2018). Building on this progress, there is an opportunity to further enhance its impact by integrating urban agriculture and food sovereignty into the policy framework.
Incentivize productive green roofs for urban agriculture. Developers should receive zoning incentives for adding food-producing greenhouses or rooftop farms, which would provide local food, reduce urban heat, and improve insulation year-round.
Incorporate food-growing spaces into new mixed-use developments. Grocery co-ops, hydroponic farming spaces, and farmers' markets could be co-located with housing and transit hubs.
This model has been successfully implemented in cities like Paris, Toronto, and New York, where urban farms have been integrated into zoning codes as part of climate resilience strategies.
Advancing Health Equity in Urban Planning: From Research to Policy and Action
Health equity is a fundamental consideration in urban planning, as research has consistently shown the connection between built environments and health outcomes. Translating these insights into effective policies and tangible action is essential. Denver has already made significant strides, including the West Area Plan, which aims to address displacement risks, food access, and transit improvements for historically marginalized communities (West Area Plan, 2023). However, policy without enforcement lacks impact. To build on these efforts and ensure lasting impact and meaningful change, strengthening policy implementation and enforcement will be key. Opportunities for further progress include:
Enforcing Health-Driven Zoning for Mixed-Use, Walkable Communities
Current Challenge: Despite zoning policies that encourage density and mixed-use spaces, many new developments still prioritize luxury residential units without essential services nearby.
Policy Solution: Enforce Blueprint Denver’s mixed-use goals by requiring new developments to include essential services (e.g., healthcare clinics, grocery stores, and community spaces).
Anti-Displacement Measures for Equitable Development
Current Challenge: Infrastructure improvements often trigger gentrification, displacing long-term residents and exacerbating inequities (Cole et al., 2023).
Policy Solution: Expand Community Land Trusts and Inclusionary Zoning to ensure long-term affordability and prevent speculative real estate investment. Boston and San Francisco have successfully implemented similar policies to keep residents in place while revitalizing neighborhoods (Lukić, 2011).
Participatory Planning & Community-Led Development
Current Challenge: Many neighborhoods lack direct input in city planning.
Policy Solution: Strengthen Denver’s Participatory Budgeting program, allowing residents—especially in low-income and historically redlined neighborhoods—to vote on funding allocations for transit, parks, and food access. Portland’s participatory budgeting model has been widely successful in aligning public investments with community needs.
Green Infrastructure as a Public Health Investment
The climate crisis is already affecting Denver through rising temperatures, increased wildfires, and worsening air quality. Integrating green infrastructure as a core public health investment—rather than merely an aesthetic enhancement—can help mitigate these challenges while promoting community well-being.
Expanding Urban Green Space & Tree Canopy Coverage
Denver’s Urban Forest Strategic Plan (2024) acknowledges that trees are critical infrastructure, yet canopy coverage remains low (only 15% citywide, 4% downtown). Increasing tree coverage in historically disinvested neighborhoods must be a priority. Strategic solutions include:
Expanding Urban Forestry Initiatives – Increase tree-planting efforts in areas most affected by heat and pollution, prioritizing historically marginalized neighborhoods.
Enhancing Stormwater Management Through Green Infrastructure – Integrating more permeable surfaces, bioswales, and rain gardens can help manage water quality and urban runoff.
Zoning Reform for Green Infrastructure – Ensure new developments meet tree canopy and green space requirements, particularly in areas with historically low investment in public infrastructure.
A Call to Action for Denver’s Urban Planners
Urban planning is not neutral—it either reinforces inequities or actively dismantles them. Denver is already laying the groundwork for a more sustainable, wellness-focused city, but bold action is required to fully realize these goals.
Here’s what needs to happen next:
✅ Expand the Green Buildings Ordinance to include food-producing green roofs and community gardens.
✅ Ensure new developments provide healthcare, grocery access, and essential services—not just housing.
✅ Strengthen anti-displacement policies like Community Land Trusts to prevent gentrification.
✅ Enhance participatory planning to give residents real control over neighborhood changes.
✅ Invest in tree canopies and urban greening in historically disinvested areas to improve air quality and combat heat islands.
The next phase of Denver’s growth must be defined by health-centered, equity-driven, and environmentally resilient urban planning. With smart investments, policy enforcement, and true community collaboration, Denver can become a national model for health-driven urban design.
Conclusion: The Time for Action is Now
The choices we make today will define who Denver’s growth benefits tomorrow. By embedding health equity, environmental resilience, and food sovereignty into its planning efforts, Denver can become a city that truly serves all residents, not just the privileged few.
The time for incremental change is over. The time for bold action is now. Let’s reimagine Denver together.
References
Cole, H. V., Anguelovski, I., Triguero-Mas, M., Mehdipanah, R., & Arcaya, M. (2023). Promoting health equity through preventing or mitigating the effects of gentrification: a theoretical and methodological guide. Annual review of public health, 44(1), 193-211.
City and County of Denver. (n.d.). Participatory budgeting cycle 2. Community Planning and Development. Retrieved February, 2025, from https://www.denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Community-Planning-and-Development/Planning/Denver-Peoples-Budget/Participatory-Budgeting-Cycle-2
Corburn, J. (2004). Confronting the challenges in reconnecting urban planning and public health. American journal of public health, 94(4), 541-546.
Corburn, J. (2017). Urban place and health equity: critical issues and practices. International journal of environmental research and public health, 14(2), 117.
Denver Community Planning and Development. (2025). Blueprint Denver. City and County of Denver. Retrieved February, 2025, from https://www.denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Community-Planning-and-Development/Planning/Blueprint-Denver
Denver Community Planning and Development. (2018). Green Buildings Ordinance. City and County of Denver. Retrieved February, 2025, from https://www.denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Community-Planning-and-Development/Plan-Review-Permits-and-Inspections/Commercial-and-Multifamily-Projects/Green-Buildings-Ordinance
Denver Parks and Recreation. (2024). Urban Forest Strategic Plan. City and County of Denver. Retrieved February, 2025, from chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://denvergov.org/files/assets/public/v/3/parks-and-recreation/documents/forestry/final-ufsp-20240814-web_ada.pdf
Diener, A., & Mudu, P. (2021). How can vegetation protect us from air pollution? A critical review on green spaces' mitigation abilities for air-borne particles from a public health perspective-with implications for urban planning. Science of the Total Environment, 796, 148605.
Lukić, I. (2011). Influence of planning and civil initiative, as a form of public intervention, on gentrification. Spatium(25), 56-66.
Northridge, M. E., & Freeman, L. (2011). Urban planning and health equity. Journal of urban health, 88, 582-597.
Wolch, J. R., Byrne, J., & Newell, J. P. (2014). Urban green space, public health, and environmental justice: The challenge of making cities ‘just green enough’. Landscape and urban planning, 125, 234-244.
