Motivation Affects Walkers’ Desired Environment
People who walk for health may prefer different features in the environment than do those who commute by foot.
Urban Environment
Less Dangerous by Design
Three articles on how certain aspects of the environment affect people’s perception of danger add to our knowledge about how to make places safer.
Design Guidelines for Walkable Cities
Many studies have been done on pedestrian motivations, values, and constraints. A recent article concisely summarizes much of the research, and uses it to support a design framework for walkable cities and neighborhoods.
Driver Behavior and Neighborhood Characteristics
Just as researchers are investigating how neighborhood characteristics affect pedestrian behavior, similar research is investigating how features of the physical environment affect driving behavior.
Traffic Warning Signals that Don’t Make a Difference
Some traffic warning signs are not effective. Two recent journal articles profile signage that does not produce the desired behaviors by drivers.
Event-Place Essentials
Researchers have been investigating event-places, "which make powerful linkages between physical and social phenomena."
Cell Phone Use Leads People to Ignore Their Environments
Individuals talking on cell phones are not as aware of information being presented in the area they are passing through as individuals who are not talking on cell phones.
Public Health and Place
The September 2003 issue of the American Journal of Public Health focuses on the influence of the built environment on health.
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 and the Urban Environment
What influence does urban design have on human health at the scale of individual buildings and surroundings, neighborhoods, and towns and regions? Laura Jackson (National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, EPA) surveyed the literature.
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