The four-part miniseries “Designing Healthy Communities” begins airing on PBS stations this week.

On PBS
Preliminary schedule. Additional broadcasts are expected.

Hosted by public-health expert Richard Jackson, the series looks at ways our built environment influences health and well-being. Chairman of the department of environmental health sciences in the School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles, Jackson makes the case that America’s homes, businesses, transportation systems and public spaces are contributing to increases in obesity, chronic disease and even depression.

The Media Policy Center of Santa Monica, Calif., the miniseries producer, takes viewers to 24 U.S. communities that have found or are developing solutions to create healthier, sustainable environments. The hour-long programs are the centerpiece of a larger multimedia campaign, supported by a book, town hall meetings and community-based outreach.

The Kresge Foundation provided $750,000 for the “Designing Healthy Communities” project. The California Endowment, The American Institute of Architects, Kaiser Permanente, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Marisla Foundation and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation also contributed.

(Previous coverage.)