Health and Community Design: The Impact of the Built Environment on Physical Activity
Health-related behaviors, like many others, can be influenced by the physical environment. This book’s aim is to elucidate the connection.
Health-related behaviors, like many others, can be influenced by the physical environment. This book’s aim is to elucidate the connection.
One of the often-touted goals of neotraditional neighborhood design is to create a more pedestrian-friendly environment—one where residents walk and bike to local attractions, rather than drive. Several recent studies look at how people’s actions may support or hinder those aims.
Individuals traversing urban areas move in as straight a line as possible—even if that route requires grade changes.
The important point here is how pedestrians can be generated in an environment around a catalyst.
Building a diversified mix of stores, restaurants, and entertainment venues can draw pedestrians to urban centers and spur further economic development. Creating the initial nucleus for such development, though, is often difficult. One study reviews relevant research on these “catalytic buildings” to see what is known about their effectiveness. Originally published in Issue 1, 2003.