walkability interventions - america...

Chanam Lee, PhD, MLA | [email protected]

Sungmin Lee, MLA | [email protected]

Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning

Center for Health Systems and Design, College of Architecture

Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas

America Walks Webinar SeriesAugust 3, 2016

Walkability Interventions

http://research.arch.tamu.edu/activeliving

Walkability Benefits


Walkability Issues

Walkability Discussions

Walking is easy and important, but

why still many people do not walk enough?

• Walkability from the

socio-ecological

perspective

(e.g. Bauman et al. 2002)

Conceptualizing Walkability

The Social-Ecological Model: A Framework for Factors of Behavior

Societal Community Relationship Individual

The Behavioral Model of the Environment (Figure from Lee 2016)

• Walkability from the

behavioral model of

environment

(e.g. Lee and Moudon 2004)

• Origin-Destination

• Route

• Area

*Satariano WA., Ory MG., & Lee C. (2012). Planned and built environments in public health. Public health for an aging society, 327-352.

Environmental Pathways*

Main

EffectWalkability Walking

Mediating

Effect

Moderating

Effect

Walkability

WalkingIncome

WalkingFunctioning

Walkability

• Walkability has been widely used to describe how much

certain areas provide opportunities to walk (Leyden 2003).


lancasteronline.com/ communitybuilders.net

• Walkability has been shown to be associated with health outcomes, such as actual walking behavior, body mass index (BMI), and quality of life (Sallis et al.

2009).

• Walkability is associated with lower prevalence of overweight and obesity, more

walking and decreased incidence of diabetes (Frank et al. 2006; Kligerman et al. 2007, Booth et al. 2005, Saelens et al. 2003, Creatore et al. 2016).

• People who lived in the high walkable neighborhoods (e.g. high residential

density, street connectivity, public transport density, and more number of parks),

walked 68 to 89 minutes more per week than those in the low walkable neighborhoods (Sallis et al. 2016).


In addition to its established link with walking, physical activity and obesity,

walkability has also been shown to offer other important benefits such as

mental health, social capital, environmental and economic values.

• Greater neighborhood walkability was negatively associated with depressive

symptoms in older men (Berke et al. 2007).

• Living in areas with walkable green spaces was positively associated with the

longevity of urban senior citizens (Takano et al. 2002)

• Perceived walkability was shown to enhance neighborhood social interaction and

sense of community (Jun and Misun, 2015); Walk Score values were positively

associated with Community Currency activities (Kwon 2016).

• Walkable neighborhoods was positively associated with property values in more pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods; but negatively in automobile-oriented

neighborhoods (Pivo and Fisher 2011).

• Walkable neighborhoods residents had lower transportation costs but higher

housing costs (Leinberger and Alfonzo 2012).

Walkability Studies

Before and after relocating to a new neighborhood

Before and after an environmental modification

Built environmental correlates of walking

• Correlational Study

• Longitudinal Study

Walkability Studies

• Residential density

• Proximity to destinations (e.g. food, service, retails,

recreation, etc.)

• Land use mix

• Street connectivity

• Sidewalk availability/quality

• Access to transit

• Access to parks, trails and other recreational amenities

• Crime safety, traffic and street-crossing safety

• Visual quality/aesthetics of neighborhood

• Slope/terrain

• And more!

Built environmental correlates of walking


Do people walk more when they move

to a more walkable neighborhood?

BEFORE: Less Walkable Neighborhood

AFTER: More Walkable Neighborhood


• In a post-move cross-sectional study, residents in a newly

developed walkable community reported more walking, physical

activity, and social interactions after the move (Zhu et al. 2014).

• In a post-move cross-sectional study, women who moved to a

neighborhood with fewer cul-de-sacs walked more than they had before (Wells and Yang 2008).

• In a prospective study of Black women, those who relocated to a

neighborhood with high density increased utilitarian and

recreation walking (Coogan et al. 2009).

• In a longitudinal natural experiment, after relocation to a

suburban fringe neighborhood with fewer local transport-related destinations but more public open spaces, residents’ transport-

related walking declined, while recreational walking increased (Giles-Corti et al. 2013).

The Boston Complete Streets initiative


Is an environmental modification

effective in promoting walking?

http://siqizhu.net/projects/complete-streets/


• Walking, cycling, and other physical activity increased after installing greenway trails (Fitzhugh et al., 2010) and street lighting

(Painter 1996).

• Improvements in sidewalks or traffic control around schools

resulted in higher walk/bike rates among children traveling along the improved route (Boarnet et al. 2005).

• Park improvements led to increases in the first time park users

(Cohen et al. 2009).

• A new light rail stop increased ridership, and the riders increased

moderate physical activity (Brown and Werner 2007)

• Cyclist activity increased after installing cycling infrastructure(Brown and Werner 2007).

Walkability Issues

e.g. Children, Adults, Older Adults

• General Population Characteristics

e.g. Perceived vs. Objective, Macro vs. Micro Scale Measures

• Measurements of Walkability

e.g. Moderate vs. Vigorous PA, Utilitarian vs. Recreational Walking

• Variations in Outcome (e.g. walking, physical activity)

e.g. Non-Walkers vs. Insufficient Walkers, High-Risk Groups, Special

Populations

• Specific/Special Characteristics of Target Populations

e.g. Urban vs. Rural, High vs. Low income Neighborhoods

• Different Characteristics of Neighborhood Environment

• Built environmental (BE) interventions are different from other

interventions in that they can influence a large number of people

at a time, but the magnitude of impact on each individual may be

relatively small and unequal.

• The effect of BE interventions may be more sustainable in the long

run. BE interventions do not disappear, and tend to target lifestyle

activities that are more habitual/sustainable.

• The cost, time, and feasibility (in addition to benefits and

unexpected consequences) of BE interventions need to be

considered carefully. Things like land use changes take a long time while infrastructure interventions such as crosswalks, bike lanes,

lighting, and traffic calming devices, may be more feasible.

Discussions

Considerations for Walkability Interventions

Discussions

Walkability is a multifaceted concept

• Consider diverse environmental pathways (direct and indirect roles of

walkability).

• Consider the impact of various walkability features on walking for

recreational and/or utilitarian purposes.

• Consider both the macro level (e.g. density, land use mix) and micro

level (e.g. street conditions, infrastructure design) conditions.

• Consider both objective (e.g. audit, Walk Score, GIS) and perceived

(e.g. survey, audit) walkability attributes.

• Consider different community settings (e.g. rural, semi-urban, urban,

rural), and population characteristics (e.g. different income, age, and

ethnic groups, current walking/activity levels, attitudes and

preferences, household characteristics).

Considerations for Walkability Interventions

Discussions

Discussions

www. SurgeonGeneral.gov

• Design communities that make it safe and

easy for people of all ages and abilities to

walk.

• Promote programs and policies to support

walking where people live, learn, work

and play.

• Provide information to encourage walking

and improve walkability.

From Step it Up (2015). www.SurgeonGeneral.gov

THANK YOU!

SELECTED REFERENCESImages[S-6] lancasteronline.com/ communitybuilders.net[S-10] Google Street View image[S-12] http://siqizhu.net/projects/complete-streets/[S-17] http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/http://envisionfrederickcounty.org/americas-walking-renaissance/http://bvopn.org/up-beat/about-up-beat/

ArticlesBauman, A., Bellew, B., Vita, P., Brown, W., & Owen, N. (2002). Getting Australia active: towards better practice for the

promotion of physical activity. Berke, E. M., Gottlieb, L. M., Moudon, A. V., & Larson, E. B. (2007). Protective association between neighborhood walkability

and depression in older men. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 55(4), 526-533. Boarnet, M. G., Anderson, C. L., Day, K., McMillan, T., & Alfonzo, M. (2005). Evaluation of the California Safe Routes to School

legislation: urban form changes and children’s active transportation to school. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 28(2), 134-140.

Booth, K. M., Pinkston, M. M., & Poston, W. S. C. (2005). Obesity and the built environment. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 105(5), 110-117.

Brown, B. B., & Cropper, V. L. (2001). New urban and standard suburban subdivisions: Evaluating psychological and social goals. Journal of the American Planning Association, 67(4), 402-419.

Brown, B. B., & Werner, C. M. (2007). A new rail stop: tracking moderate physical activity bouts and ridership. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 33(4), 306-309.

Cohen, D. A., Golinelli, D., Williamson, S., Sehgal, A., Marsh, T., & McKenzie, T. L. (2009). Effects of park improvements on park use and physical activity: policy and programming implications. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 37(6), 475-480.

Coogan, P. F., White, L. F., Adler, T. J., Hathaway, K. M., Palmer, J. R., & Rosenberg, L. (2009). Prospective study of urban form and physical activity in the Black Women's Health Study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 170(9), 1105-1117.

Creatore, M. I., Glazier, R. H., Moineddin, R., Fazli, G. S., Johns, A., Gozdyra, P., . . . Manuel, D. G. (2016). Association of Neighborhood Walkability With Change in Overweight, Obesity, and Diabetes. JAMA, 315(20), 2211-2220.

Fitzhugh, E. C., Bassett, D. R., & Evans, M. F. (2010). Urban trails and physical activity: a natural experiment. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 39(3), 259-262.

Frank, L. D., Andresen, M. A., & Schmid, T. L. (2004). Obesity relationships with community design, physical activity, and time spent in cars. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 27(2), 87-96.

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http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/

http://envisionfrederickcounty.org/americas-walking-renaissance/

http://bvopn.org/up-beat/about-up-beat/

Giles-Corti, B., Bull, F., Knuiman, M., McCormack, G., Van Niel, K., Timperio, A., . . . Middleton, N. (2013). The influence of urban design on neighbourhood walking following residential relocation: longitudinal results from the RESIDE study. Social Science and Medicine, 77, 20-30.

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society, 327-352Sallis, J. F., Cerin, E., Conway, T. L., Adams, M. A., Frank, L. D., Pratt, M., . . . Cain, K. L. (2016). Physical activity in relation to

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walkability interventions - america...

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