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Evidence for urban design and public health policy and practice: Space Syntax metrics and neighborhood walking
Abstract and Figures
Most walkability indices do not capture the topological structure of urban forms. Space syntax concept models these topological relationships. We estimated associations between the space syntax measure of street integration and walkability (SSW) and neighborhood-specific leisure (LW) and transportation (TW) walking among 4422 Canadian adults. Street integration and SSW were found to be positively associated with TW and LW participation. A one-unit increase in SSW was associated with a 6-minute increase in usual weekly minutes of TW. Street integration and SSW were also positively associated with TW participation. Higher street integration and walkability conceptualized using space syntax support neighborhood walking.
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Supplementary resource (1)
... Finally, some authors also evaluated how street networks are integrated. Integration relies on the topological representation of the built environment: a more integrated street segment requires fewer turns to reach a destination from other streets within the network (McCormack et al., 2021). By using space syntax for measuring street integration, some authors, such as McCormack et al. (2021) found a positive association between topological distance and walking for transport. ...
... Integration relies on the topological representation of the built environment: a more integrated street segment requires fewer turns to reach a destination from other streets within the network (McCormack et al., 2021). By using space syntax for measuring street integration, some authors, such as McCormack et al. (2021) found a positive association between topological distance and walking for transport. However, this attribute was found to weakly described connectivity and walking when applied to small and dense urban areas, where turns are the norm (Ellis et al., 2016;Lam ıquiz & Dom ınguez, 2015). ...
... al., 2019;Oyeyemi et al., 2017Oyeyemi et al., , 2019Pelclov a et al., 2013;Qureshi & Ho, 2014;Tsiompras & Photis, 2017;Van Dyck et al., 2012;Ye, 2020; Ye et al.al., 2016;Buck et al., 2015;Chen et al., 2019;Clark et al., 2014;Creatore et al., 2016;Cruise et al., 2017;Deng et al., 2020;Glazier et al., 2014;Habibian & Hosseinzadeh, 2018;Hanibuchi et al., 2012;Hankey et al., 2012;Howell et al., 2019;James et al., 2017;James et al., 2015;King, 2008;Koohsari et al., 2016Koohsari et al., , 2018Lam ıquiz & Dom ınguez, 2015;Lefebvre-Ropars et al., 2017;Li et al., 2018;Liao et al., 2020;Lovasi et al., 2011;McCormack et al., 2021;Nichani et al., 2020;Oluyomi et al., 2014;Orstad et al., 2018;Robinson et al., 2018;Rundle et al., 2019;Sehatzadeh et al., 2011;Shammas & Escobar, 2019;Sugiyama et al., 2019;Tamura et al., 2019;Vargo et al., 2012; Williams et al.al., 2014 Williams et al.al., , 2015Braun et al., 2016;Buck et al., 2015;Chandrabose et al., 2019;Chen et al., 2019;Colley et al., 2019;Deng et al., 2020;Glazier et al., 2014;Golan et al., 2019;Hanibuchi et al., 2012;Howell et al., 2019;Huang et al., 2019;James et al., 2015James et al., , 2017Kenyon & Pearce, 2019;Kerr et al., 2014;Lam ıquiz & Dom ınguez, 2015;Lefebvre-Ropars et al., 2017;Li et al., 2018;Liao et al., 2020;McDonald et al., 2012;Nichani et al., 2020;Orstad et al., 2018;Pereira et al., 2020;Pouliou et al., 2014;Reisi et al., 2019;Rundle et al., 2019;Todd et al., 2016;Vargo et al., 2012;Wang et al., 2017;Ye, 2020;Ye et al., 2017; Zhou et al., 2020. Ratio: urban park/green area per capita Pereira et al., 2020. ...
Walking is a sustainable mode of transport and a healthy way of doing physical activity. Walkability is a concept that has gained enormous popularity in recent years due to its potential to promote more sustainable urban environments and healthy lifestyles. This paper provides a literature review to analyse the influence of built environment attributes on walkability. The Scopus and Web of Science databases were chosen to survey the peer-reviewed documents published up to June 2020. A total of 132 documents were selected by the search. The review of these 132 documents showed that various built environment attributes were differently analysed and assessed. More specifically, the search identified 32 built environment attributes that were assessed by using 63 measures. Intersection density, residential density and land use mix were the most used attributes for assessing walkability, namely by using objective methods, such as ratios and spatial score tools. In turn, attributes related to streetscape design and security were much less adopted in walkability assessments. This paper provides additional insights into how built environment attributes influence walkability and identifies gaps and issues that should be analysed in-depth in the future. The review could be helpful for researchers and urban planners in developing walkability studies and in defining policies to improve walkability.
... The association between leisure physical activity and street integration is noteworthy given that the conceptual and operational definitions of this and other connectivity indicators tend to relate more to travel ease and accessibility and the ability to reach destinations (i.e., facilitating transport-related physical activity) 23,24 . Much of the previous evidence regarding associations between space syntax street integration and physical activity suggests that integration is often more supportive of transport walking 5,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29] . Notably, Baran et al. 26 found that access to streets that are necessary to access other local streets (permeability or local connectivity) and global integration (level of access to a street from all other streets) to be positively associated with leisure walking trips. ...
... Despite the novel approach to examine street layout and the longitudinal design, our study has several limitations. Our study relied on self-report physical activity data, which may be subject to recall and memory bias 60,61 and which were not context (i.e., neighbourhood) specific 28,61,62 potentially underestimating the association between street integration and physical activity. Despite controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and pre-move physical activity and finding similar observed characteristics as non-movers, movers to higher street integration, and movers to less street integration, we did not have access to information about people's reasons for moving neighbourhood or preferences of neighbourhood built characteristics (i.e., residential self-selection factors). ...
Few longitudinal residential relocation studies have explored associations between urban form and physical activity, and none has used the Space Syntax theory. Using a Canadian longitudinal dataset (n=5944), we estimated: 1) differences in physical activity between non-movers, and those relocating to neighbourhoods with less or more integrated street layouts, and; 2) associations between changes in street layout integration exposure and differences in physical activity. Adjusting for covariates, we found relative to non-movers, those who moved to more integrated neighbourhoods undertook significantly (p<.05) more leisure walking (27.3 minutes/week), moderate-intensity (45.7 minutes/week), and moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (54.4 minutes/week). Among movers, a one-unit increase in the relative change in street integration exposure ([Street integration at follow-up – street integration at baseline] / street integration at baseline) was associated with a 7.5 minutes/week increase in leisure walking. Our findings suggest that urban design policies that improve neighbourhood street integration might encourage more physical activity in adults.
... The study showed that modeling was useful in representing traffic networkson an urban scale. McCormack et al. (2019) also agreed that more integrated streets can improve human mobility and movement, thereby leading to a sustainable city. Space syntax is used to describe human behavior and social activities, and to explain the morphogenesis of spatial patterns from a spatial configuration point of view, besides providing original opinions in terms of space. ...
... The parameters are stipulated based on spatial modeling for the purpose of traffic flow. McCormack et al. (2019) suggested that integration can develop more social activities when a space is served with better connectivity and accessibility. Besides, when immediate neighbors move directly in a natural way, they will develop the same pattern of movement behavior. ...
Streets and physical layouts can be inherent in a sustainable city by emphasizing the use of space with planned strategies by promoting the movement of people and social behaviors for enhancing an economic structure. An analysis of the space layout is beneficial for defining the urban areas that can affect street behavior. A GIS incorporated with a space syntax can help to propagate the effectiveness of a spatial analysis in a study on urban spaces. The integration of the computational pieces of both a GIS analytical tool and space syntax parameters will stimulate research oriented urban systems and spatial morphologies combined with a spatial database. However, the development of livability can be affected by a set of parameters that define the used space. Thus, this paper was aimed at examining the space syntax parameters for space visualization to evaluate street behavior using the GIS processing and space syntax methods. In this study, a spatial analysis was used to generate spatial information on traffic volume, while a space syntax was used to test the street behavior. Also, a predictive analysis was conducted to identify the correlation between traffic behavior and a set of parameters. The results showed that integration and direct visibility were significant to the traffic volume. Most of the streets that were linked to the commercial area showed high integration and direct visibility, which increased by more than half, compared with the unlinked areas. Based on the statistical analysis, both parameters recorded a probability of less than 5%. The results showed that any space designed with a continuous, direct and clear traffic volume will lead to increased integration and direct visibility, thus influencing a natural vehicle movement. ARTICLE HISTORY
... In response to calls for more policy and practice relevant built environment measures in health-related research (Giles-Corti et al. 2015), researchers have begun to explore novel but intuitive metrics of the built environment. For instance, several studies have applied space syntax metrics to better understand how the built environment is associated with various health-related outcomes (e.g., outdoor violence, car use, physical activity, and weight status) (Baran et al. 2008;Koohsari et al. 2016bKoohsari et al. , 2017Koohsari et al. , 2018McCormack et al. 2019;Summers and Johnson 2017). Space syntax maps topology of street layouts with an emphasis on the alignment between open spaces and built-up areas in the local neighbourhood (Koohsari et al. 2016a). ...
... In another Australian study, Koohsari et al. (2017) found street integration to be positively associated with participation in any transportation walking and participation in > 30 min of transportation walking per day. More recently, in a Canadian study, McCormack et al. (2019) found street integration and space syntax walkability to be positively associated with participation in neighbourhood-based transportation and leisure walking, and weekly minutes of neighbourhood-based transportation walking. Given the fact that the built environment is associated with physical activity and physical activity is associated with weight outcomes (Fan et al. 2013;Farkas et al. 2019), it might be expected that space syntax measures will be associated with weight outcomes. ...
Objectives: Neighbourhood characteristics can impact the health of residents. This study investigated associations between objectively-derived neighbourhood characteristics, including novel space syntax metrics, and self-reported body mass index (BMI) among Canadian men and women.
Methods: Our study included survey data collected from a random cross-section of adults residing in Calgary, Alberta, Canada (n=1,718). The survey, conducted in 2007/2008 captured participant’s sociodemographic characteristics, health, and weight status. Participant’s household postal codes were geocoded and 1600m lined-based network buffers from them were generated. Using geographic information systems, we estimated neighbourhood characteristics within each buffer including business destination density , street intersection density, sidewalk length, and population density. We also calculated street integration and space syntax walkability (street integration plus population density) within each buffer. Using covariate-adjusted regression models , we estimated associations between neighbourhood characteristics and BMI (continuous) and BMI categories (healthy weight versus overweight including obese). The gender-stratified analysis was also performed.
Results: Business destination density was negatively associated with BMI and the odds of being overweight. Among men, street intersection density and sidewalk length were negatively associated with BMI and street intersection density, business destination density, street integration, and space syntax walkability were negatively associated with the odds of being overweight. Among women, business destination density was negatively associated with BMI.
Conclusion: Urban design policies that impact neighbourhoods have the potential to influence weight among adults living in urban Canadian settings. Some characteristics may have a differential association with weight among men and women and should be considered in neighbourhood-focussed urban design and public health interventions.
... While the detrimental effects of environmental exposures have been broadly demonstrated in numerous cases, there is also growing evidence for positive effects of built environment features. Individual features of the built environment have been linked to increased physical activity [24], active travel [25], or lower levels of obesity [26]. For example, neighbourhoods that are walkable are associated with increased physical activity and other positive health outcomes [27,28]. ...
Environmental exposures (EE) are increasingly recognised as important determinants of health and well-being. Understanding the influences of EE on health is critical for effective policymaking, but better-quality spatial data is needed. This article outlines the theoretical and technical foundations used for the construction of individual-level environmental exposure measurements for the population of a northern English city, Bradford. The work supports ‘Connected Bradford’, an entire population database linking health, education, social care, environmental and other local government data over a period of forty years. We argue that our current understanding of environmental effects on health outcomes is limited both by methodological shortcomings in the quantification of the environment and by a lack of consistency in the measurement of built environment features. To address these shortcomings, we measure the environmental exposure for a series of different domains including air quality, greenspace and greenness, public transport, walkability, traffic, buildings and the built form, street centrality, land-use intensity, and food environments as well as indoor dwelling qualities. We utilise general practitioners’ historical patient information to identify the precise geolocation and duration of a person’s residence. We model a person’s local neighbourhood, and the probable routes to key urban functions aggregated across the city. We outline the specific geospatial procedure used to quantify the environmental exposure for each domain and use the example of exposure to fast-food outlets to illustrate the methodological challenges in the creation of city and nationwide environmental exposure databases. The proposed EE measures will enable critical research into the relationship and causal links between the built environment and health, informing planning and policy-making.
... Russo, A. and Campisi, T. used spatial syntax to describe urban spatial morphology and quantitative analysis of urban transport demand and supply to provide dynamic planning strategies for post-epidemic cities [8]. Mccormack G R and Koohsari M J explored the impact of social street integration on community walkability [9], Van Der Hoeven F and Van Nes A have developed a syntactic model for assessing and measuring urban underground spaces, they used spatial syntax to develop optimal design and transformation solutions [10]. Esposito et al provide a useful perspective for urban analysis and planning to better understand the relationship between the spatial characteristics of the cognitive spatial subject and the urban environment [11]. ...
(1) Background: In the process of urbanization, current suburban village spaces are undergoing drastic changes. Many villages have lost their original rural appearances, and their unique rural cultures have been destroyed. (2) Methods: In this study, we used the Depthmap software to analyze the integration and comprehensibility of the village spaces in the central suburbs of Jilin province. Based on spatial syntax theory, we quantitatively interpreted the suburban village spaces, and we analyzed the correlations between their spatial morphological characteristics and industrial structures. (3) Results: Fishbone and radial villages each have one spatial nucleus, while comprehensive villages have multiple spatial nuclei. The comprehensibility of the villages with industrial structures that are dominated by the secondary and tertiary industries expressed higher results, with the highest comprehensibility value for the village of Nianshan (0.874). (4) Conclusions: The spatial characteristics of the suburban villages in central Jilin province generally have a high correlation with their industrial structures. We can use the spatial syntax measurement index as a basis for the spatial-form adjustment and reconstruction of the villages, with the aim of providing a reference for the industrial selection of suburban villages with different landforms and industrial structures, as well as the sustainable development of rural cultural tourism, in order to contribute to the revitalization of the countryside in the new era.
... Socioecological models of physical activity suggest that individual characteristics alongside aspects of the social and physical environment influence walking behaviour (Bauman et al., 2012;McCormack et al., 2021;Sallis et al., 2006;Steinmetz-Wood et al., 2020). Evidence supports a positive association between physical neighbourhood characteristics including high residential density, land use mix, street connectivity and individuals' self-reported walking for transport and leisure (Hall and Ram, 2018;Li et al., 2005;Steinmetz-Wood et al., 2020;Yun, 2021). ...
Understanding and monitoring socio-spatial patterns of population walking mobility can inform urban planning and geographically targeted health promotion strategies aimed at increasing population levels of physical activity. In this study we use aggregated, anonymous mobile phone mobility data to examine the association between neighbourhood physical and social characteristics and residents’ weekly walking behaviour across 313 neighbourhoods in a large metropolitan region of Queensland, Australia. We find that residents in neighbourhoods that are highly fragmented by streets with speed limits above 50 kmph, residents in neighbourhoods with high retail density and those living is economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods walk fewer kilometres and minutes on average per week than their counterparts. These findings can inform urban planning policy on the minimum specifications required in newly developing neighbourhoods and provide targets for retro-fitting features into existing neighbourhoods.
... The initial question posed by space syntax was whether the arrangement of urban forms had an impact on levels of street use, thereby developing an objective measurement investigating the complex relationship between the static, spatial attributes of cities and the dynamic patterns of human activity. At present, empirical studies have proven positive correlations between spatial configuration and the presence of pedestrians, proposing alternative approaches and measurements for walking via space syntax terms [1][2][3][4][5]. While using space syntax to investigate the patterns of pedestrian movement and walking behaviour is useful, it is often criticised as reductive and embodied in the premise that physics can explain almost everything [6]. ...
Extensive studies have demonstrated the relationship between static street networks and dynamic pedestrian movement. Street vendors temporarily appear in a vibrant space, closely engaging with numerous pedestrians. Is street vending distribution related to street network configuration? And if so, in what ways? This study investigates the heterogeneous relationships between pedestrians, vendors and the urban and suburban places they inhabit in Yuncheng by contrasting two different types of pedestrian-driven maps. The vending distribution map was identified via semi-structured interviews with urban managers (n = 11) in 2017. The spatial network configuration was examined through space syntax segment angular analysis, containing Integration, Choice and Combined Centrality properties at macro-, meso- and micro-scales. By overlapping the distribution map to the syntactic maps in the Quantum Geographic Information System (QGIS) platform, our results show that street vending distribution is most related to the Choice property at the meso-scale. Using semi-structured interviews (n = 53) and observations at two specific sites, we further found relationships tend to be opposed in urban and suburban areas. The study provides an alternative approach to integrating quantitative and qualitative data, expanding the theoretical and empirical understanding of spatial configuration and urban street activities related to walking and vending. This understanding has the potential to contribute to the design of more liveable street spaces.
... Layout, density, land-use mix, polycentric forms, and job-housing distance further influence resident lifestyles. The urban transportation infrastructure, including the road networks and connections, and particularly the public transport service, profoundly influence residents' connectivity and convenience [54,[58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66]. Residential space, as one vital type of land use, requires the careful consideration of residential density, such as median floors of accommodation and the portion of affordable housing, along with the layout and diversity of community facilities, including ordinary retail facilities and grocery stores [26,48,[67][68][69]. ...
A recent examination of the significant role of public health has prompted calls to re-investigate how the urban environment affects public health. A vital part of the solution includes Healthy City initiatives that have been the subject of extensive policies, implications, and practices globally. However, the existing literature mainly focuses on big cities and metropolitan areas, while investigations into small and midsized cities (SMCs) are lacking, and thus reflect the underlying issues of health inequity. This study develops an indicator system for evaluating Healthy City initiatives in SMCs, linking urban design and public health, supported by the analyzed opinions from experts collected using both questionnaires and interviews. The indicator system includes six primary dimensions and 37 variables: urban form and transportation (UFT); health-friendly service (HFS); environmental quality and governance (EQG); community and facility (CF); green and open space (GOS); and ecological construction and biodiversity (ECB). A fuzzy synthetic evaluation technique was used to assess the relative importance of factors, emphasizing the importance of UFT, HFS, and EQG, with importance indexes of 0.175, 0.174, and 0.174, respectively. This indicator system is helpful for SMCs seeking to construct a Healthy City in the future, and is based on urban design and governance inputs and for enhancing the Healthy City knowledge base of cities of varied scales.
... On the other hand, the WalkScore algorithm, created by Front Seat Management LLC, calculates neighbourhood walkability by assigning a 1.6 km buffer zone around the participant's residential address and assessing the presence of facilities in the buffer zone, population density and road metrics [6]. The WalkScore is a well-recognised tool for quantitative analysis or a walk-friendly environment [35], despite its criticism on the lack of topological structure [37]. A brief comparison of space syntax-related case studies is presented in Table 1. ...
The ongoing discourse on air quality and climate changes positions walkability as a pivotal point of sustainable urban planning. Urban studies examine a city’s walkability in terms of pedestrian flows, design qualities, and street network topology, leaving walkability comparative frameworks under development. Building on the space syntax theory, this research introduces a “walkability compass”, a four spatial indicator-designed tool for city walkability assessment and comparison. The tools are being tested on eight Baltic region cities: Vilnius, Kaunas (LT), Malmö (SE), Riga (LV), Tallinn (ES), Gdansk, Bialystok, Lublin (PL). The nine-step method framework integrates four indexes: Gravity (Gr), Reach (Re), Straightness (St), and Population density (Pop). The “walkability compass” results reveal significant Re and St correlations; thus, visual and cultural aspects become the main factors in pedestrian-friendly cities. The spatial pattern typology has matched similar cities (Malmö and Kaunas) to work closely on sustainable urban planning development. In all case studies, specific walkability zones were mapped, but the Gr zones turned out to be the most compact ones (the Z-score of Gr was ranged from 355.4 to 584; other indexes oscillated between 209.4 and 542.6). The walkability mapping results are publicly shared via WebMap to stimulate the participatory discussion on case studies cities further development.
... Most of these needs can only be taken by space syntax of living environment. A space syntax of residential environment needs spatial, functional, social hierarchies that has unbreakable relation with the concept of territory and territoriality (Wu et al., 2015;Koohsari et al., 2016;McCormack et al., 2019). Human and animals show territoriality behavior from different ways. ...
This study aims to investigate the critical reading individual areas on traditional Iranian house. The method of this research is a deductive content analysis. This research has done in three steps; preparation, organization and final report or conclusion. First, in the preparation stage, the individual and family territory in Iranian culture is defined. In organization phase, by reviewing plans, maps and visual observations of Iranian houses, individual and family territories is classified. And in the last steps, a conclusion from the situation of privacy and individuality in Iranian house is explained. It seems that family privacy has been the main function of traditional Iranian houses. Despite the spaces which could be as a personal and individuality territories, they didn’t get this functions and individualism and individual values have been forgotten. Accordingly, individuality is not considered as a valuable being who needs his/her own territory, but his/her role is determined in relation to other people and values like veil, purity, cooperation and humility are given importance.
... For example, empirical studies have found that built environment features such as mixed land use (Cao et al., 2007;Rodriguez et al., 2009), high accessibility to amenities (Cao, 2015;Cao et al., 2006;Frank et al., 2007;Heath et al., 2006;Kitamura et al., 1997;Van Dyck et al., 2011), high residential density (Mooney et al., 2020;Braun et al., 2016;Khattak & Rodriguez, 2005), and greater road connectivity (Chatman, 2009) were associated with more transport walking. Some studies found the macro-scale neighborhood walkability was associated with more transport walking (Hirsch et al., 2013;McCormack et al., 2021;Steinmetz-Wood et al., 2020). ...
We employed a longitudinal distributed lag modeling approach to systematically estimate how associations between built environment features and transport walking decayed with the increase of distance from home to built environment destinations. Data came from a cohort recruited from six U.S. cities (follow-up 2000–2010, N = 3913, baseline mean age 60). Built environment features included all walkable destinations, consisting of common and popular destinations for daily life. We also included two subsets frequent social destinations and food stores to examine if the spatial scale effects differed by varying density for different types of built environment destinations. Adjusted results found that increases in transport walking diminished when built environment destinations were farther, although distance thresholds varied across different types of built environment destinations. Higher availability of walking destinations within 2-km and frequent social destinations within 1.6-km were associated with transport walking. Food stores were not associated with transport walking. This new information will help policymakers and urban designers understand at what distances each type of built environment destinations influences transport walking, in turn informing the development of interventions and/or the placement of amenities within neighborhoods to promote transport walking. The findings that spatial scales depend on specific built environment features also highlight the need for methods that can more flexibly estimate associations between outcomes and different built environment features across varying contexts, in order to improve our understanding of the spatial mechanisms involved in said associations.
... The importance of behaviors in urban spaces can be discussed in many different ways. In contemporary urban design literature, the importance of urban behaviors is discussed in terms of their impact on cultural aspects (such as cultural identity, collective consumption, lifestyle (Castells, 1977;1983;Soja, 1971)), social elements (such as interactions, public consensus, building trust, strengthening social capital, social justice, etc. (Bereitschaft, 2017;Halbwachs, 2020;Askarizad & Safari, 2020), economic aspects (Harvey, 2000), environmental aspects (Hamin & Gurran, 2009), and aspects of health (Direito et al., 2018;Koohsari et al., 2018;McCormack et al., 2019). Regarding health, recent research has shown that the rate of walking in urban areas plays a signi cant effect on lowering blood pressure (Li et al., 2009), reducing anxiety (Kelly et al., 2007), preventing osteoporosis (Rohrer et al., 2004), reducing type 2 diabetes (De Greef et al., 2011;Taylor et al., 2008) decreasing body mass index (Frank et al., 2006;Smith et al., 2008) and overall physical (Kelly et al., 2007), and mental health (Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn, 2003). ...
Severe climatic conditions are considered as one of the main factors shaping and in some cases limiting urban behaviors. Accordingly, environmental designers seek to make urban spaces usable for a wide range of behaviors during different times by bringing sub-climates closer to the comfort zone. The present study aims to evaluate the effects of sub-climate on behavioral patterns and explore solutions to moderate harsh climatic conditions in architecture and urban planning. This study compared the behavioral patterns of space users in hot and arid ( Yazd ) and moderate and humid ( Fooman ) climates. The recording of behavioral patterns was achieved by using the observation method (time-lapse photography) and analysis through the spatial analysis method. Based on the results, climatic characteristics affect both types of urban activities and the time cycles of their occurrence. Severe climatic conditions limit urban behaviors to essential activities and merely transcend space. Such states do not allow for a wide range of optional and social activities. Spatial physical tools such as building density, enclosure, occupancy level, amount of retreat on the ground floor and upper floors, type of building material, and the amount of green space have been used in historical formal-spatial patterns of Iran to moderate the harsh climatic conditions.
... Most of these needs can only be taken by the space syntax of the living environment. A space syntax of residential place needs spatial, functional, social hierarchies that have unbreakable relation with the concept of territory and territoriality (Koohsari et al., 2016;McCormack et al., 2019;Wu et al., 2015). Humans and animals show territorial behavior in different ways. ...
This study aims to investigate the critical reading of individual areas of traditional Iranian houses. According to the expert's opinion, 7 traditional houses in Iran are chosen. A deductive content analysis in three steps including, preparation, organization, and the final report is used to assess the space syntaxes. In the preparation step, the individual and family territory in Iranian culture is defined. In the organization phase, reviewing plans, maps, and visual observations of houses and, territories are classified. Finally, the conclusion from the situation of privacy and individuality in houses is given. It seems family privacy is the main function of traditional Iranian houses. Despite the spaces which could be as personal and individual territories, practically it's not so, and individualism and individual values have been forgotten. Individuality is not considered as a valuable being who needs his/her own territory, but this role is determined in relation with the other people.
... Higher integration values translate to a more connected network and improved physical activity behaviors [18], while lower integration means that the network is segregated [24]. Recently, a Canadian study found that a 1-unit increase in street integration is related to 0.22 min more transportation walking during a usual week [45]. Also, street integration is considered an alternative measure to intersections density [23], which is a standard parameter for street connectivity in macro-scale walkability indices. ...
To date, several macro-level walkability measures have been proposed, but microscale and audit-based walkability approaches prove to be highly effective to support realistic, quick and cheap mechanisms for pedestrian-friendly environments. Yet, walkability audits are time- and cost-intensive solutions, because they require several streetscape observations. This study aims to investigate whether a multiple linear regression model of urban form- and function-related variables can effectively predict an audit-based average walkability indicator. For this purpose, we use a virtual, brief and reliable audit tool (MAPS-Mini) in Athens city centre in order to collect street-level data and in turn to construct a microscale walkability indicator (dependent variable). Moreover, our approach suggests a flexible statistical model of open-source data, with six exploratory variables of the macro-level built environment: angular integration, population density, transit stop density, pedestrian street density, retail and entertainment activity density, and building height. The results indicate that audit-based average walkability scores can be effectively estimated, as the regression model can explain about 82% of the variation. Furthermore, the density of retail and entertainment activities was indicated as the strongest correlate of more walking-friendly streetscapes, while some urban policy implications include the promotion of footpath repairs and better-engineered crossings.
... To gain a broader understanding of NE characteristics and their impacts on multiple levels of PA in old age, novel theories and instruments, based on the growing amount of research, would be desirable [15]. In this regard, new measures of the built NE, such as space syntaxes have recently been explored [167]. A practical basis for consensus in data to be gained from future studies has been provided by the IPEN consortium. ...
Background:
A supportive environment is a key factor in addressing the issue of health among older adults. There is already sufficient evidence that objective and self-reported measures of the neighborhood environment should be taken into account as crucial components of active aging, as they have been shown to influence physical activity; particularly in people aged 60+. Thus, both could inform policies and practices that promote successful aging in place. An increasing number of studies meanwhile consider these exposures in analyzing their impact on physical activity in the elderly. However, there is a wide variety of definitions, measurements and methodological approaches, which complicates the process of obtaining comparable estimates of the effects and pooled results. The aim of this review was to identify and summarize these differences in order to emphasize methodological implications for future reviews and meta analyzes in this field and, thus, to create a sound basis for synthesized evidence.
Methods:
A systematic literature search across eight databases was conducted to identify peer-reviewed articles examining the association of objective and perceived measures of the neighborhood environment and objectively measured or self-reported physical activity in adults aged ≥ 60 years. Two authors independently screened the articles according to predefined eligibility criteria, extracted data, and assessed study quality. A qualitative synthesis of the findings is provided.
Results:
Of the 2967 records retrieved, 35 studies met the inclusion criteria. Five categories of methodological approaches, numerous measurement instruments to assess the neighborhood environment and physical activity, as well as several clusters of definitions of neighborhood, were identified.
Conclusions
The strength of evidence of the associations of specific categories of environmental attributes with physical activity varies across measurement types of the outcome and exposures as well as the physical activity domain observed and the operationalization of neighborhood. The latter being of great importance for the targeted age group. In the light of this, future reviews should consider these variations and stratify their summaries according to the different approaches, measures and definitions. Further, underlying mechanisms should be explored.
Mental health is important in older age; neighborhood environment is considered a protective factor of depression. Research has established that a critical indicator of neighborhood environment, street connectivity, is related to older people's health. However, little is known about the relationship between street connectivity and depression. We examined the relationship between street connectivity and depression among older people. Using Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study 2013–2016, the target population comprised 24,141 independent older people without depression (Geriatric Depression Scale scores below 5) in 2013. The outcome variable was depression in 2016; the explanatory variable was street connectivity calculated by intersection density and space syntax within 800 m around the subject’s neighborhood in 2013. We used logistic regression analysis to calculate the odds ratio and 95% confidence interval for the new occurrence of depression among participants in 2016. This analysis demonstrated incidence of new depression after 3 years that is 17% and 14% lower among participations living in high-intersection density and high-street-connectivity areas, respectively, than those living in low-intersection density and low-street-connectivity areas. The association held after adjusting for physical activities and social interaction. Given the established connection between street connectivity and mental health, the findings can contribute to healthy urban planning.
In the current century, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), particularly cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, and chronic respiratory diseases, are the most important cause of mortality all over the world. Given the effect of the built environment on people's health, the present study seeks to conduct a systematic review in order to investigate the relationship between urban form and these four major NCDs as well as their main risk factors. Two independent reviewers in November 2020 after an extensive search through PubMed and Scopus identified 77 studies. Studies published in English were included if they addressed one or more attributes of urban form in relation to any major NCDs and their main risk factors. Publication date, country, geographical scale, study design, methods of built environment measurement, and findings of the relationships among variables were extracted from eligible studies. The findings suggest that the elements of urban form (density, transportation and accessibility, characteristics of building and streetscape, land use, spatial layouts and configuration) could increase or inhibit these diseases through their effect on physical activity, diet, air pollution, blood pressure, and obesity. However, there are study shortages, contradictions, and ambiguities in these relationships which are mainly due to methodological and conceptual challenges. As a result, more in-depth research is needed to achieve solid and consistent results that could be made into clear guidelines for planning and designing healthier cities.
Community is the foundation of modern cities, where urban residents spend most of their lifetime. Effective and healthy community design plays a vital role in improving residents’ living quality. Pedestrian network is an indispensable element in the community. Successful pedestrian network design can help the residents be healthy both physically and mentally, build the awareness of “Go Green” for the society, and finally contribute to low-carbon and green cities. This paper proposes a community pedestrian network design method based on Urban Network Analysis with the help of the Rhino software. A case study of a typical community in Guangzhou, China was implemented, specifying the steps of the proposed method. The findings presented include the features of the citizens and the accessibilities of the neighbors that are obtained from the community pedestrian network simulation. The limitation and scalability of this method was discussed. The proposed method can be essential to designing healthy and sustainable communities.
Evidence suggests that street connectivity is associated with physical activity, yet few studies have estimated its associations with sedentary behaviour. We estimated the associations between street connectivity (space syntax derived street integration) and sedentary behaviours among Canadian adults. Data were from Alberta’s Tomorrow Project (n=14,758). Items from the International Physical Activity Questionnaire measured sedentary behaviour, including sitting and motor vehicle travel time. Street integration was measured within a 1600m radius of participants’ homes. Covariate-adjusted linear regression models estimated the associations between street integration and sedentary behaviour. Higher street integration was associated with more time sitting on weekdays (b 3.73; 95CI 2.10, 5.40), weekends (b 2.54; 95CI 1.10, 4.03), and weekdays and weekends combined (b 23.74; 95CI 13.40, 34.10), but less motor vehicle travel time (b -1.60; 95CI -2.24, -0.90). Our findings suggest the need to consider the different pathways by which neighbourhood built characteristics positively and negatively affect sedentary behaviours.
Purpose
Functioning as space connectors, path structures in urban parks may rarely present social interaction opportunities, although centralized activity spaces are available. This paper investigated the interrelationships between the visual and physical accessibility attributes of path structure and their impacts on passive social interaction intensity across urban parks in Kuala Lumpur.
Design/methodology/approach
The concept of social interaction has been studied elsewhere in social cohesion, social affiliation and sense of communication. Still, it has not been studied in the context of urban park design. This study employed mixed methods using an adaptive and unique combination of qualitative and quantitative data collections to analyze urban parks with a bit of visual vegetation barrier. The experiential landscape method was applied to determine visual accessibility by interpreting experiential landscape maps. The space syntax method based on quantitative analysis is considered to measure physical accessibilities and vigorous activities along the designated paths by conducting integration analysis and gate observation. The data were crossed-analyzed using a Geographic Information System (GIS) classification technique, correlation analysis and Microsoft combo-charts to generate the relationship between patterns of activities and their accessibilities.
Findings
The results suggested that designated paths with higher accessibility attributes, impressively more elevated than other tracks, could influence the intensity of passive social interactions. The findings supported the understanding that activity nodes and active areas adjoining designated routes could make accessibility attribute areas more critical. These findings verify that visually enriching the spaces along the path structure toward activities is a pivotal contributor to urban planners and designers to enhance the paths’ local integration (LI) and visual accessibility to predict more passive eye contact among park visitors.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed interrelationship among variables in this study has limitations because of not considering other qualitative methods and techniques like cognitive maps and interview simultaneously. These techniques could discover why some paths generate more passive eye contact among park users (Mohammadi Tahroodi, 2018).
Practical implications
Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan 2020 emphasizes Kuala Lumpur’s unique image as a tropical garden city via preserving and developing the iconic historical urban parks in the city center (CHKL, 2004, pp. 3–3). The latest Draft Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan 2040 has outlined the strategy to achieve a conducive, good-quality neighborhood that encourages social interaction. The findings could assist urban planners and designers better public parks by considering accessibility and permeability aspects of design. This research endorses the appropriateness of interrelationship between accessibility attributes of path structure and social interaction in urban design research, which local urban designers have not fully considered until now. Evaluating the visual convenience of designated paths and assessing LI of the axial lines constructing each designated route of urban parks during the primary stage could enable urban designers to estimate to what extent the paths are accessible and respond to passive social interaction. Then they could enrich with salient landmarks, views and activity nodes to make them attractive. The considerable number of designated paths connections, specifically while they shape the sides of activity nodes, could increase the connectivity and integration of spaces within the parks. These patterns of positioning the activity nodes make the designated routes more legible and provide ease of movement. As a result, it will give urban park users more information about the activities. Allowing people to use the paths will increase people’s presence and, subsequently, passive social interaction. One way is to locate accessible lands that provide social activities at direct visual access paths within urban parks for legibility.
Social implications
The socially responsive urban design enhances the quality of life and provides life satisfaction, happiness and society’s overall health. Being in urban social parks in any passive and active situations has psychological benefits. It facilitates relief and rests from a stressful modern lifestyle that significantly impacts their mental health and well-being. The framework applied in this research integrates the social, spatial and physical aspects of parks design. With this regard, principles and indicators facilitate physically and socially attractive urban parks for Kuala Lumpur city center and applicable to similar contexts elsewhere.
Originality/value
The concept of social interaction has been studied elsewhere in social cohesion, social affiliation and sense of communication. Still, it has not been studied in the context of urban park design. This study employed mixed methods using an adaptive and unique combination of qualitative and quantitative data collections to analyze urban parks with a bit of visual vegetation barrier.
A rapidly growing body of literature has explored associations between built environment attributes, which are conducive to walking, and social capital. The current study aimed to build on the limitations of previous research. Specifically, this study estimated the associations between traditional and novel walkable built environment metrics and social capital among a sample of adults in Japan. Data (n=1,010) from a randomly selected cross-section of residents (40–69 years old) from two areas in Japan were included. Social capital was assessed by questionnaires. Several objective and perceived walkable built environment attributes were calculated. Covariate-adjusted multivariable linear regression models were used to estimate associations between neighborhood built attributes and the three social capital scores. Street connectivity was negatively associated with activities with neighbors (b=-0.21, 95% CI -0.31, -0.11). Perceived population density was negatively associated with all three social capital scores, including social cohesion, activities with neighbors, and social participation (b=-0.21, 95% CI -0.30, -0.11, b=-0.15, 95% CI -0.24, -0.06, and b=-0.16, 95% CI -0.29, -0.02, respectively). Traditional walkability index and Walk Score® were negatively associated with activities with neighbors (b=-0.04, 95% CI -0.07, -0.00 and b=-0.09, 95% CI -0.15, -0.04, respectively). No significant associations were observed between perceived walkability and social capital scores. Space syntax walkability was negatively associated with social cohesion and activities with neighbors (b=-0.12, 95% CI -0.23, -0.01 and b=-0.11, 95% CI -0.21, -0.01, respectively). This study provided unique findings demonstrating that walkable built environments may not necessarily support social capital in ultrahigh-density Asian cities.
Distance is a recognized key determinant of walking. Pedestrians tend to choose the shortest route between two points. Shortest routes can be spatially described in terms of distances between two points or topologically described as the number of turns/directional changes between these points. This paper presents a methodology to evaluate the conditions provided by a street network to pedestrians, by using two space syntax measures. Accessibility was calculated through Angular Segment Analysis by Metric Distance (ASAMeD), a measure of street integration and choice strongly correlated with pedestrian movement pattern. Street Connectivity was calculated by using the space syntax measure of connectivity, which shows the direct connection of street nodes to each individual nodes. The streets criterion values of both approaches were normalized by using fuzzy logic linear functions. The method was applied in the city center of Qazvin, Iran. Results showed that the urban structure of Qazvin has a strong impact on the performance of the network. The old neighborhood centers widespread in the city center presented a high topological accessibility, while the most connected street are those streets crossing and surrounding the neighborhood areas. The method can be used to evaluate and improve pedestrian networks, as it can distinguish the most and least attractive streets according to the criteria used. These findings can be used to guide policies towards improving walkability and to create more walkable and sustainable cities.
This 21st century has brought robust attention to the role the environment plays in human health. This article offers a mapping of the theoretical landscape to help orient and potentially connect the diverse research conducted in the areas of healthy places. The premise is that much research has been conducted within the environmental stress approach to understanding the health-environment nexus, but that additional, important work has also been conducted within both a Fit and a Place approach that provide different insights into healthy places. Each approach has its own underlying assumptions regarding the relationship between human and environment, the research questions that should be asked, the type of validity valued and praxeological assumptions. Each approach also has differing affinities with various theories of health that may serve useful in connecting Healthy Place Research to interdisciplinary research endeavors. Here it is asserted that the concepts and models of allostatic load, salutogenesis and cumulative (dis)advantage hold great promise for connecting Healthy Place Research to robust fields of health inquiry.
Introduction
Evidence to date suggests that the built environment has the potential to facilitate and even discourage physical activity. A limitation of previous reviews is that they have typically not been country-specific. We conducted a systematized literature review of quantitative studies that estimated associations between the built environment—which were objectively measured—and walking among Canadian adults.
Methods
Five scientific databases were searched for peer-reviewed studies published in all years up to December 31, 2016, that estimated the association between the built environment (i.e. objectively measured using audits and Geographic Information Systems [GIS]) and physical activity among a sample of Canadian adults. The database searches, title and abstract screen, full-text review and data extraction were undertaken by two reviewers.
Results
Of 4140 articles identified, 25 met the inclusion criteria. Most studies included data from a single Canadian province. All but two studies were cross-sectional. Most studies captured self-reported walking for transportation and walking for any purpose. Overall walkability and land use were consistently associated with walking for transportation, while proximity to destinations was associated with walking for any purpose.
Conclusion
Our review findings suggest that the built environment is potentially important for supporting adult walking. Overall walkability, land use and proximity to destinations appear to be important given their association with transportation walking and walking for any purpose.
Qualitative studies can provide important information about how and why the built environment impacts physical activity decision-making—information that is important for informing local urban policies. We undertook a systematized literature review to synthesize findings from qualitative studies exploring how the built environment influences physical activity in adults. Our review included 36 peer-reviewed qualitative studies published from 1998 onwards. Our findings complemented existing quantitative evidence and provided additional insight into how functional, aesthetic, destination, and safety built characteristics influence physical activity decision-making. Sociodemographic characteristics (age, sex, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status) also impacted the BE’s influence on physical activity. Our review findings reinforce the need for synergy between transportation planning, urban design, landscape architecture, road engineering, parks and recreation, bylaw enforcement, and public health to be involved in creating neighbourhood environments that support physical activity. Our findings support a need for local neighbourhood citizens and associations with representation from individuals and groups with different sociodemographic backgrounds to have input into neighbourhood environment planning process.
Introduction: Few self-report tools capture neighbourhood physical activity. The aim of our study was to modify a widely-used self-report tool (International Physical Activity Questionnaire - IPAQ) to capture neighbourhood physical activity and estimate the test-retest reliability of these modifications. Material and Methods: Seventy-five adults completed the modified IPAQ twice, 7-days apart, capturing neighbourhood days·week⁻¹ and usual minutes·day⁻¹ of bicycling and walking for transport and leisure, moderate physical activity, and vigorous physical activity. Test-retest reliability was assessed with Intraclass Correlations (ICC), percent of overall agreement and Kappa statistics (k). Results: Consistency in participation in neighbourhood PA ranged from k = 0.21 for moderate physical activity to k = 0.55 for vigorous physical activity, while proportion of overall agreement ranged from 64.0% for moderate physical activity to 81.3% for bicycling for transportation. ICC for reported neighbourhood PA between the two occasions ranged from ICC = 0.33 for moderate physical activity to ICC = 0.69 for bicycling for transportation for days·week⁻¹, ICC = 0.17 for bicycling for transportation to ICC = 0.48 for walking for leisure for minutes·day⁻¹, and ICC = 0.31 for vigorous physical activity to ICC = 0.52 for walking for leisure for minutes·week⁻¹. Conclusions: With the exception of minutes spent bicycling for transportation, our findings suggest that IPAQ items can be modified to provide reliable estimates of neighbourhood physical activity.
Introduction
The aim of this study was to estimate the associations between neighbourhood built environment characteristics and transportation walking (TW), recreational walking (RW), and moderate-intensity (MPA) and vigorous-intensity physical activity (VPA) in adults independent of sociodemographic characteristics and residential self-selection (i.e. the reasons related to physical activity associated with a person’s choice of neighbourhood).
Methods
In 2007 and 2008, 4423 Calgary adults completed land-based telephone interviews capturing physical activity, sociodemographic characteristics and reasons for residential self-selection. Using spatial data, we estimated population density, proportion of green space, path/cycleway length, business density, bus stop density, city-managed tree density, sidewalk length, park type mix and recreational destination mix within a 1.6 km street network distance from the participants’ geolocated residential postal code. Generalized linear models estimated the associations between neighbourhood built environment characteristics and weekly neighbourhood-based physical activity participation (≥ 10 minutes/week; odds ratios [ORs]) and, among those who reported participation, duration of activity (unstandardized beta coefficients [B]).
Results
The sample included more women (59.7%) than men (40.3%) and the mean (standard deviation) age was 47.1 (15.6) years. TW participation was associated with intersection (OR = 1.11; 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.20) and business (OR = 1.52; 1.29 to 1.78) density, and sidewalk length (OR = 1.19; 1.09 to 1.29), while TW minutes was associated with business (B = 19.24 minutes/week; 11.28 to 27.20) and tree (B = 6.51; 2.29 to 10.72 minutes/week) density, and recreational destination mix (B = −8.88 minutes/ week; −12.49 to −5.28). RW participation was associated with path/cycleway length (OR = 1.17; 1.05 to 1.31). MPA participation was associated with recreational destination mix (OR = 1.09; 1.01 to 1.17) and sidewalk length (OR = 1.10; 1.02 to 1.19); however, MPA minutes was negatively associated with population density (B = −8.65 minutes/ week; −15.32 to −1.98). VPA participation was associated with sidewalk length (OR = 1.11; 1.02 to 1.20), path/cycleway length (OR = 1.12; 1.02 to 1.24) and proportion of neighbourhood green space (OR = 0.89; 0.82 to 0.98). VPA minutes was associated with tree density (B = 7.28 minutes/week; 0.39 to 14.17).
Conclusion
Some neighbourhood built environment characteristics appear important for supporting physical activity participation while others may be more supportive of increasing physical activity duration. Modifications that increase the density of utilitarian destinations and the quantity of available sidewalks in established neighbourhoods could increase overall levels of neighbourhood-based physical activity.
We examined whether street layout is associated with walking and sedentary behaviors in the context of a non-Western country; and, whether such associations differ between an urban and a rural area. In 2011, 1,076 middle-to-older aged adults living in an urban and a rural area of Japan reported their walking and sedentary (sitting) behaviors. Two objective measures of street layout (intersection density and street integration) were calculated. Participants exposed to more-connected street layouts were more likely to walk for commuting and for errands, to meet physical activity recommendations through walking for commuting, and less likely to drive. These relationships differed between the urban and the rural area. This shows that previous findings from Western countries on associations of street connectivity with travel behaviors may also be applicable to Japan.
The aim was to critically appraise the methodological quality of studies and determine the psychometric qualities of Past-week and Usual-week Physical Activity Questionnaires (PAQs). Data sources were obtained from Pubmed and Embase. The eligibility criteria for selecting studies included: 1) at least one psychometric property of PAQs was examined in adults; 2) the PAQs either had a recall period of usual 7-days (Usual-week PAQs) within the past 12 months or during the past 7-days (Past-week PAQs); and 3) PAQs were self-administered. Study quality was evaluated using the COSMIN taxonomy and the overall psychometric qualities evaluated using pre-established psychometric criteria. Overall, 45 studies were reviewed to assess the psychometric properties of 21 PAQs with the methodological quality of most studies showing good to excellent ratings. When the relationship between PAQs and other instruments (i.e., convergent validity) were compared between recall methods, Past-week PAQs appeared to have stronger correlations than Usual-week PAQs. For the overall psychometric quality, the Incidental and Planned Exercise Questionnaire for the Usual-week (IPEQ-WA) and for the Past-week (IPEQ-W) had the greatest number of positive ratings. For all included PAQs, very few psychometric properties were assessed with poor ratings for the majority of the overall qualities of psychometric properties indicating the limitation of current PAQs. More research that covers a greater spectrum of psychometric properties is required to gain a better understanding of the qualities of current PAQs.
Background: Neighborhood walkability has been shown to be associated with walking behavior. However, the availability of geographical data necessary to construct it remains a limitation. Building on the concept of space syntax, we propose an alternative walkability index, space syntax walkability (SSW). This study examined associations of the full walkability index and SSW with walking for transport (WT).
Methods: Data were collected in 2003-2004 from 2544 adults living in 154 Census Collection Districts (CCD) in Adelaide, Australia. Participants reported past week WT frequency. Full walkability (consisting of net residential density, intersection density, land use mix, and net retail area ratio) and SSW (consisting of gross population density and a space syntax measure of street integration) were calculated for each CCD using geographic information systems and space syntax software. Generalized linear models with negative binomial variance and logarithmic link functions were employed to examine the associations of each walkability index with WT frequency, adjusting for socio-demographic variables.
Results: Two walkability indices were closely correlated (ρ=0.76, p<0.01). The associations of full walkability and SSW with WT frequency were positive, with regression coefficients of 1.12 (95% CI: 1.08, 1.17) and 1.14 (95% CI: 1.10, 1.19), respectively.
Conclusions: SSW employs readily-available geographic data, yet is comparable to full walkability in its association with WT. The concept and methods of space syntax provide a novel approach to further understanding how urban form influences walking behaviors.
The street network underpins the walkability of local neighborhoods. We examined whether two street network measures (intersection density and street integration from space syntax) were independently associated with walking for transport (WT); and, to what extent the relationship of street integration with WT may be explained by the presence of destinations. In 2003-2004, adults living in Adelaide, Australia (n = 2544) reported their past-week WT frequency and perceived distances to 16 destination types. Marginal models via generalized estimating equations tested mediation effects. Both intersection density and street integration were significantly associated with WT, after adjusting for each other. Perceived destination availability explained 42% of the association of street integration with WT; this may be because of an association between street integration and local destination availability – an important element of neighborhood walkability. The use of space syntax concepts and methods has the potential to provide novel insights into built-environment influences on walking.
Higher street connectivity, land use mix and residential density (collectively referred to as neighbourhood walkability) have been linked to higher levels of walking. The objective of our study was to summarize the current body of knowledge on the association between neighbourhood walkability and biosensor-assessed daily steps in adults.
We conducted a systematic search of PubMed, SCOPUS, and Embase (Ovid) for articles published prior to May 2014 on the association between walkability (based on Geographic Information Systems-derived street connectivity, land use mix, and/or residential density) and daily steps (pedometer or accelerometer-assessed) in adults. The mean differences in daily steps between adults living in high versus low walkable neighbourhoods were pooled across studies using a Bayesian hierarchical model.
The search strategy yielded 8,744 unique abstracts. Thirty of these underwent full article review of which six met the inclusion criteria. Four of these studies were conducted in Europe and two were conducted in Asia. A meta-analysis of four of these six studies indicates that participants living in high compared to low walkable neighbourhoods accumulate 766 more steps per day (95 % credible interval 250, 1271). This accounts for approximately 8 % of recommended daily steps.
The results of European and Asian studies support the hypothesis that higher neighbourhood walkability is associated with higher levels of biosensor-assessed walking in adults. More studies on this association are needed in North America.
Several indices have been developed in the past two decades that quantify and evaluate the walkability and bikeability of communities. This study reviewed 25 pedestrian indices, developed to date, for the scale of measurement, type of data source(s), and the list of specific variables used to develop each index. The identified variables were classified into ten constructs including sidewalk, road, intersection, vehicle, pleasantness, and safety. This study identifies the specific constructs of the built environment that were used to develop these indices. Furthermore, a normative framework to objectively measure the builtenvironment constructs that influence walking using GIS is proposed that can be used for future studies.
Global concerns about rising levels of chronic disease make timely translation of research into policy and practice a priority. There is a need to tackle common risk factors: tobacco use, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, and harmful alcohol use. Using evidence to inform policy and practice is challenging, often hampered by a poor fit between academic research and the needs of policymakers and practitioners - notably for active living researchers whose objective is to increase population physical activity by changing the ways cities are designed and built. We propose 10 strategies that may facilitate translation of research into health-enhancing urban planning policy. Strategies include interdisciplinary research teams of policymakers and practitioners; undertaking explicitly policy-relevant research; adopting appropriate study designs and methodologies (evaluation of policy initiatives as 'natural experiments'); and adopting dissemination strategies that include knowledge brokers, advocates, and lobbyists. Conducting more policy-relevant research will require training for researchers as well as different rewards in academia.Journal of Public Health Policy advance online publication, 22 January 2015; doi:10.1057/jphp.2014.53.
Detroit is a city with low-density housing and a high proportion of lower-socioeconomic-status multiethnic residents. Physical activity tends to be lower in low- to moderate-income urban communities. To understand the design components of healthy neighborhoods, interrelationships between built environment characteristics and walking behavior were studied for three neighborhoods. Results suggest that as independent predictors, higher density and multiple land uses tended to deter walking. However, residents of neighborhoods with strong well-connected street networks (both locally and globally) reported higher levels of walking as compared to those in less well-connected neighborhoods.
Urban design has always been a challenging task and will remain one because of its inherent complexities and the diversity of the issues that are associated with it. A competent, experienced urban designer can use intuitive methods to deal with these complexities and still achieve a good design, but when projects become more complicated and multifaceted the intuition of the designer is not always adequate to ensure a successful design. This article argues that urban design process can be enhanced effectively by analytical methods that are applied at the specific stages of a design process. These methods can impact the inception of the design ideas, evaluate objectively the design outputs at different stages, assist the further development of the design solutions and reduce the risk of failure during the design process or project implementation. The article argues that for these methods to engage with the design process they have to be spatial in nature, as urban design is eventually manifested in a spatial entity. It is further argued that the analysis of space could bridge between space and the ultimate users of the design – or the people – if space is understood through an analysis of its ‘configurational’ properties. Finally, a configurational approach to analytical urban design is introduced, which is based on the theoretical foundations, analytical methods and modelling techniques of space syntax. The application of the methods, their role in urban design process and their contribution to urban design projects are all discussed through the review of a selected number of real-life projects.
Background
Self-reported and objectively-determined neighborhood built characteristics are associated with physical activity, yet little is known about their combined influence on walking. This study: 1) compared self-reported measures of the neighborhood built environment between objectively-determined low, medium, and high walkable neighborhoods; 2) estimated the relative associations between self-reported and objectively-determined neighborhood characteristics and walking and; 3) examined the extent to which the objectively-determined built environment moderates the association between self-reported measures of the neighborhood built environment and walking.
Methods
A random cross-section of 1875 Canadian adults completed a telephone-interview and postal questionnaire capturing neighborhood walkability, neighborhood-based walking, socio-demographic characteristics, walking attitudes, and residential self-selection. Walkability of each respondent’s neighborhood was objectively-determined (low [LW], medium [MW], and high walkable [HW]). Covariate-adjusted regression models estimated the associations between weekly participation and duration in transportation and recreational walking and self-reported and objectively-determined walkability.
Results
Compared with objectively-determined LW neighborhoods, respondents in HW neighborhoods positively perceived access to services, street connectivity, pedestrian infrastructure, and utilitarian and recreation destination mix, but negatively perceived motor vehicle traffic and crime related safety. Compared with residents of objectively-determined LW neighborhoods, residents of HW neighborhoods were more likely (p < .05) to participate in (odds ratio [OR] = 3.06), and spend more time, per week (193 min/wk) transportation walking. Perceived access to services, street connectivity, motor vehicle safety, and mix of recreational destinations were also significantly associated with transportation walking. With regard to interactions, HW x utilitarian destination mix was positively associated with participation, HW x physical barriers and MW x pedestrian infrastructure were positively associated with minutes, and HW x safety from crime was negatively associated with minutes, of transportation walking. Neither neighborhood type nor its interactions with perceived measures of walkability were associated with recreational walking, although perceived aesthetics was associated with participation (OR = 1.18, p < .05).
Conclusions
Objectively-determined and self-reported built characteristics are associated with neighborhood-based transportation walking. The objectively-determined built environment might moderate associations between perceptions of walkability and neighborhood-based transportation walking. Interventions that target perceptions in addition to modifications to the neighborhood built environment could result in increases in physical activity among adults.
In April 2011, a conference with invited experts from research, policy and practice was held to build consensus around policy levers to address environmental determinants of obesity. The gap between existing policy tools and what can promote health through community design is a major policy opportunity. This commentary represents a consensus of next actions towards creating built environments that support healthy active living. The policy environment and Canadian evidence are reviewed. Issues and challenges to policy change are discussed. Recommendations to create supportive built environments that encourage healthy active living in communities include the following: 1) empower planning authorities to change bylaws that impede healthy active living, protect and increase access to green space, introduce zoning to increase high density, mixed land use, and influence the location and distribution of food stores; 2) establish stable funding for infrastructure promoting active transportation and opportunities for recreation; 3) evaluate the effectiveness of programs to improve the built environment so that successful interventions can be identified and disseminated; 4) mandate health impact assessment of planning, development and transportation policies to ensure that legislative changes promote health and safety; 5) frame issues to dispel myths and to promote protection from obesity risk factors. © Canadian Public Health Association, 2012. All rights reserved.
Empirical evidence suggests that an association between the built environment and physical activity exists. This evidence is mostly derived from cross-sectional studies that do not account for other causal explanations such as neighborhood self-selection. Experimental and quasi-experimental designs can be used to isolate the effect of the built environment on physical activity, but in their absence, statistical techniques that adjust for neighborhood self-selection can be used with cross-sectional data. Previous reviews examining the built environment-physical activity relationship have not differentiated among findings based on study design. To deal with self-selection, we synthesized evidence regarding the relationship between objective measures of the built environment and physical activity by including in our review: 1) cross-sectional studies that adjust for neighborhood self-selection and 2) quasi-experiments.
In September 2010, we searched for English-language studies on built environments and physical activity from all available years in health, leisure, transportation, social sciences, and geographical databases. Twenty cross-sectional and 13 quasi-experimental studies published between 1996 and 2010 were included in the review.
Most associations between the built environment and physical activity were in the expected direction or null. Land use mix, connectivity and population density and overall neighborhood design were however, important determinants of physical activity. The built environment was more likely to be associated with transportation walking compared with other types of physical activity including recreational walking. Three studies found an attenuation in associations between built environment characteristics and physical activity after accounting for neighborhood self-selection.
More quasi-experiments that examine a broader range of environmental attributes in relation to context-specific physical activity and that measure changes in the built environment, neighborhood preferences and their effect on physical activity are needed.
To examine seasonal variations in self-reported physical activity among an urban population of Calgarian adults.
Telephone surveys were conducted with two independent random cross-sectional samples of adults in summer and autumn 2007 (n=2199) and in winter and spring 2008 (n=2223). Participation and duration of walking for recreation (WR), walking for transportation (WT), moderate (MODPA) and vigorous physical activity (VIGPA) undertaken in a usual week were captured. Seasonal comparisons of participation related to these activities and sufficient MODPA (≥210 min/week) and VIGPA (≥90 min/week) physical activity were examined using logistic regression.
Compared with winter, participation in WR was significantly (p<0.05) more likely in summer (OR 1.42), autumn (OR 1.35) and spring (OR 1.40), WT was more likely in autumn (OR 1.27), and MODPA was more likely in summer (OR 1.42). Achievement of sufficient MODPA was significantly more likely in summer (OR 1.80), autumn (OR 1.31) and spring (OR 1.24). Although there was no seasonal variation in sufficient VIGPA overall, variations in seasonal pattern among sub-populations were observed. Sex- and age-specific seasonal patterns in physical activity were also found.
Measuring physical activity throughout the year, rather than at one time point, would more accurately monitor physical activity and assist in developing seasonally appropriate physical activity interventions. Moreover, in countries that experience extreme weather conditions, creating physical activity-friendly environments that help overcome these conditions might contribute to year-long physical activity participation.
Capturing neighborhood-specific physical activity is necessary for advancing understanding about the relations between neighborhood walkability and physical activity. This study examined the test-retest reliability of previously developed items (from the Neighborhood Physical Activity Questionnaire) for capturing setting-specific physical activity among Canadian adults.
Randomly sampled adults (n = 117) participated in two telephone-interviews 2 to 5 days apart. Respondents were asked a series of items capturing frequency and duration of transportation-related walking, recreational walking, moderate and vigorous-intensity physical activity undertaken inside and outside the neighborhood in a usual week. The test-test reliability of reported physical activity levels were then examined using Intraclass and Spearman's rank correlations, kappa coefficients, and overall agreement.
Participation, frequency, and the duration of transportation-related and recreational walking and vigorous-intensity physical activity inside and outside the neighborhood showed moderate to excellent test-retest reliability. Moderate reliability was found for moderate-intensity physical activity undertaken inside (k = 0.48; ICC frequency = 0.38; ICC duration = 0.39) and outside (k = 0.51; ICC frequency = 0.79; ICC duration = 0.31) the neighborhood.
Neighborhood-specific physical activity items administered by telephone-interview are reliable and are therefore appropriate for use in future studies that examining neighborhood walkability and physical activity.
Despite continued interest in neighborhood correlates of physical activity, few self-report questionnaires exist that capture neighborhood-based physical activity. Furthermore, there is little evidence about the measurement validity of self-report measures of neighborhood-based physical activity. Notably, self-reported neighborhood physical activity has not been validated against combined accelerometer and global positioning system (GPS)–assessed physical activity. Thus, the purpose of this study was to estimate the concurrent validity of a recently adapted tool for capturing self-reported neighborhood-based physical activity (i.e., the Neighborhood International Physical Activity Questionnaire; N-IPAQ). Adults ( n = 75) from four Calgary (Alberta, Canada) neighborhoods wore an accelerometer and GPS monitor for 7 consecutive days after which they self-reported their physical activity from the past week using the N-IPAQ. Bland-Altman plots and Spearman correlations estimated the concurrent validity between N-IPAQ and accelerometer/GPS physical activity (estimated for the administrative boundary, 400-m and 800-m radial buffers). The mean (95% Confidence Interval [CI]) difference between the N-IPAQ and accelerometer/GPS estimated total daily minutes of physical activity differed for the 400-m (1.9 min, −26.2 to 29.9), 800-m (10.6 min, −16.0 to 37.1), and administrative boundary buffers (14.7 min, −11.5 to 41.0). The strongest Spearman correlations were found between the N-IPAQ and 800-m radial buffer accelerometer-captured vigorous-intensity physical activity ( r = .41 [95% CI: .18 to .60]), and the N-IPAQ and administrative boundary accelerometer-captured vigorous-intensity physical activity ( r = .43 [95% CI: .20 to .62]). Our findings suggest that the N-IPAQ provides good estimates of neighborhood-based physical activity and could be used when investigating neighborhood correlates of physical activity.
The Walk Score® index has become increasingly applied in studies of walking and walkability. The index assesses the "walking potential" of a place through a combination of three elements: the shortest distance to a group of preselected destinations, the block length, and the intersection density around the origin. The Index links a gravity-based measure (distance accessibility), with topological accessibility (street connectivity) measured by two complementary indicators that act as penalties in the final score (linearly expanded in the range 0-100). A systematic review of Scopus® and Web of Science® was conducted with 42 journal articles eventually being evaluated. Research was primarily undertaken in North American urban geographies. Analysis of walkability using Walk Score® is inconsistent. Twenty-nine papers do not exclusively relying on Walk Score® as a single measurement of walkability and add further estimates to better capture the multiple dimensions of walkability. In 33 studies the Walk Score® was used as an independent variable, and only once as a mediating-moderating variable. In eight papers (18%) the Walk Score® was a part of a bivariate correlation model. On no occasion was it used as a dependent variable. Results tend to only partly support the validity of Walk Score®. The paper concludes that the Index is best understood as a surrogate measure of the density of the built environment of a specific neighborhood that indicates utilitarian walking potential. Implications for, and potential areas of, future research are discussed.
Street layout is consistently associated with adults’ travel behaviors, however factors influencing this association are unclear.
We examined associations of street layout with travel behaviors: walking for transport (WT) and car use; and, the extent to which these relationships may be accounted for by availability of local destinations.
A 24-hr travel diary was completed in 2009 by 16,345 adult participants of the South-East Queensland Household Travel Survey, Australia. Three travel-behavior outcomes were derived: any home-based WT; over 30 min of home-based WT; and, over 60 min of car use. For street layout, a space syntax measure of integration was calculated for each Statistical Area 1 (SA1, the smallest geographic unit in Australia). An objective measure of availability of destinations – Walk Score – was also derived for each SA1. Logistic regression examined associations of street layout with travel behaviors. Mediation analyses examined to what extent availability of destinations explained the associations.
Street integration was significantly associated with travel behaviors. Each one-decile increment in street integration was associated with an 18% (95%CI: 1.15, 1.21) higher odds of any home-based WT; a 10% (95%CI: 1.06, 1.15) higher odds of over 30 min of home-based WT; and a 5% (95%CI: 0.94, 0.96) lower odds of using a car over 60 min. Local destinations partially mediated the effects of street layout on travel behaviors.
Well-connected street layout contributes to active travel partially through availability of more local destinations. Urban design strategies need to address street layout and destinations to promote active travel among residents.
The application of space syntax as a method for examining the role of spatial configuration on people's behavior has been widespread in several disciplines, such as urban design and architecture. However, the ideas and procedures of space syntax have rarely been applied in studies within the field of public health or leisure studies. This article briefly introduces the principles of space syntax and describes how space syntax can extend previous knowledge regarding associations between the built environment and physical activity with specific applications to research on parks and public open spaces.
On the face of it, cities as complex systems are made of (at least) two sub-systems: a physical sub-system, made up of buildings linked by streets, roads and infrastructure; and a human sub-system made up of movement, interaction and activity. As such, cities can be thought of as socio-technical systems. Any reasonable theory of urban complexity would need to link the social and technical sub-systems to each other. Historically, most urban models have sought to make the link through the concept of distance in the physical system as a cost in the social system, defining the physical sub-system as a set of discrete zones. Such models have proved practical tools, but over the years have contributed relatively little to the development of a more general theory of the city. Here we propose a more complex and, we believe, true-to-life model based on the definition of the physical sub-system of the city as a network of spaces – streets and roads - linking buildings, rather than as a system of discrete zones. This allows us to approach urban complexity in a new way.
This study investigated whether associations between the neighborhood built environment and neighborhood-based physical activity (PA) varied by sociodemographic and health-related characteristics. A random sample of adults (n=2006) completed telephone- and self-administered questionnaires. Questionnaires captured PA, sociodemographic, and health-related characteristics. Neighborhood-based PA (MET-minutes/week) was compared across low, medium, and high walkable neighborhoods for each sociodemographic (sex, age, dependents, education, income, motor vehicle access, and dog ownership) and health-status (general health and weight status) subpopulation. With few exceptions, subpopulations residing in high walkable neighborhoods undertook more (p<0.05) neighborhood-based PA than their counterparts in less walkable neighborhoods. Improving neighborhood walkability is a potentially effective population health intervention for increasing neighborhood-based PA.
The book presents a new theory of space: how and why it is a vital component of how societies work. The theory is developed on the basis of a new way of describing and analysing the kinds of spatial patterns produced by buildings and towns. The methods are explained so that anyone interested in how towns or buildings are structured and how they work can make use of them. The book also presents a new theory of societies and spatial systems, and what it is about different types of society that leads them to adopt fundamentally different spatial forms. From this general theory, the outline of a 'pathology of modern urbanism' in today's social context is developed.
Prevailing measures of street design have largely ignored the relational properties between local and global street design as correlates of walking behaviour. This study contributes to understanding relationships between the syntactical properties of street design and walking behaviour by examining whether space syntax measures in New Urbanist and conventional suburban neighbourhoods are associated with the walking patterns of residents in these communities. Relying on geographic information systems, survey data and travel diaries, the study relates control, local integration and global integration to walking behaviour, while adjusting for the effect of individual- and household-level characteristics. It finds significant relationships between the number of leisure trips and all three syntactical measures. It also finds a consistent positive relationship between total utilitarian walking and two of the space syntax variables, control and global integration. By explaining individuals' walking behaviour using relational measures of street design, urban designers and planners are encouraged to expand their consideration of how street design may influence walking beyond the local purview.
Issues related to the validity and reliability of self-reports of physical activity are an important consideration in assessing the relation between physical activity and various health outcomes that are of interest to epidemiologists. This paper examines the case for incorporating survey methods procedures into the development, refinement, and administration of instruments designed to obtain self-report information on physical activity. In doing so, we present a method of question analysis that enables researchers to identify potential cognitive difficulties with a question and then identify possible methods for improving data quality that have successfully improved the validity of survey instruments in other areas. In doing this, we review portions of the literature in cognitive psychology devoted to autobiographical memory and discuss methods that have emerged from this research that enhance the overall validity and reliability of the data obtained in a variety of health-related areas. We also illustrate ways in which these methods can be incorporated into existing physical activity surveys.
Ecological models are now used to understand the complex array of factors that influence physical activity, resulting in a greater emphasis on environmental correlates. This selective review examines whether the predictive capacity of these models could be improved if behavior-specific measures of the environment were used to predict context-specific behaviors.
The RESIDential Environment project (RESIDE) is a longitudinal study evaluating the impact of a new residential design code on walking.
To develop a reliable measure of walking--undertaken within and outside the neighborhood--and overall physical activity.
A test-retest reliability study was undertaken (n = 82, mean age 39 years). The instrument was based on the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-short version) and Active Australia Survey. It measured usual frequency and duration of (1) recreational- and transport-related walking within and outside the neighborhood and (2) other vigorous and moderate physical activities.
Reliability of recall of whether participants had walked within (k = 0.84) and outside (0.73) the neighborhood was acceptable. Similarly, recall of frequency and duration of transport and recreational-related walking within the neighborhood was excellent (ICC > or = 0.82), as was recall of transport-related walking trips outside the neighborhood (ICC > or = 0.84). Reliability for duration of recreational walking outside the neighborhood was fair to good (ICC = 0.55). The reliability of indices of total physical activity based on MET min/week (ICC = 0.82) and MET min/week dichotomized to 'sufficient' physical activity for health (kappa = 0.67) were both acceptable.
The Neighborhood Physical Activity Questionnaire (NPAQ) is sufficiently reliable for studies examining environmental correlates of walking within the neighborhood.
The past decade has seen a dramatic increase in empirical investigation into the relations between built environment and physical activity. To create places that facilitate and encourage walking, practitioners need an understanding of the specific characteristics of the built environment that correlate most strongly with walking. This article reviews evidence on the built environment correlates with walking.
Included in this review were 13 reviews published between 2002 and 2006 and 29 original studies published in 2005 and up through May 2006. Results were summarized based on specific characteristics of the built environment and transportation walking versus recreational walking.
Previous reviews and newer studies document consistent positive relations between walking for transportation and density, distance to nonresidential destinations, and land use mix; findings for route/network connectivity, parks and open space, and personal safety are more equivocal. Results regarding recreational walking were less clear.
More recent evidence supports the conclusions of prior reviews, and new studies address some of the limitations of earlier studies. Although prospective studies are needed, evidence on correlates appears sufficient to support policy changes.
Axwoman 6.0: an ArcGIS Extension for Urban Morphological Analysis. University of G€ avle
- B Jiang
Jiang, B., 2012. Axwoman 6.0: an ArcGIS Extension for Urban Morphological Analysis.
University of G€ avle, Sweden.
Depthmap 4, a Researcher's Handbook. Bartlett School of Graduate Studies
- A Turner
Turner, A., 2004. Depthmap 4, a Researcher's Handbook. Bartlett School of Graduate
Studies, University College London, London, UK.