Our changing understanding of the reciprocal relationship between the environment and the body is reflected in the palimpsests of our urban landscape. Concepts of wellness, disease, and treatment have influenced urban design from the Industrial Revolution to today, and the results have ranged from successful to inadvertently incubating the next generation of illnesses. As we confront the ruptures in the parallel histories of public health and the public realm, examining our built environment through this lens is necessary to frame today’s most urgent questions, particularly in our pandemic present. In this talk, Sara Carr will discuss how the present-day physical environment has been shaped by different epidemics and changing views of pathology, as architects and urban planners responded to ideas about miasma, germs, and behavior and their influence on health outcomes. This talk looks to the past in order to offer meditations on how the urban landscape and design and planning practices can shift again to address the intertwined issues of our pandemic present, socioeconomic disparities, and climate change for a healthier future for all.