As they dig into smoking behavior at urban multi-family apartment buildings in nearby Hayward, our Oakland faculty researchers are collaborating across disciplines with the goal of improving public health.  

With help from specially trained undergraduate student researchers, Assistant Adjunct Professor Miki Hong is conducting a long-term study of whether smoking bans will help lower incidence of illnesses like asthma and cancer. If the city passes a law to ban smoking, Hong will watch whether behaviors change by tracking neighbor complaints, hospital admissions for asthma, and collections of cigarette butts found around apartment buildings.

Meanwhile, Associate Professor Sara Jensen Carr, who teaches architecture, urbanism, and landscape on the Oakland campus, says this research could reveal the need to develop ventilation technology for buildings where residents continue to smoke despite bans, reducing exposure to neighboring residents.  

Ultimately, this is an ideal opportunity to see whether urban planning policy has the intended effect of protecting public health, answering questions like: Can we design housing to deter smoking, and how efficacious are urban planning ordinances?