Post on 05-Jan-2016
description
Objectively Healthy Cities
George Weeks
27th October 2012
george.weeks@cantab.net
Urban design for the 21st century
1) The Age of Pestilence and Famine
Represents most of human history
Pre – industrial
High birth rates
High death rates
Basic medicine
Late 1700s to early 1900sIndustrialisationPopulation growthRural – to – urban migration
Expanding Urban Populations• Liverpool: 88,000 (1801) – 165,000 (1831)• Manchester: 90,000 (1801) – 187,000 (1831)• Leeds: 53,000 (1801) – 123,000 (1831)
2) The Age of Receding Pandemics
“Noxious trades”
Sewage
Waste disposal Overcrowding
Incompatible land uses DiseaseRapid urban growth
Pollution
20th Century Responses - Zoning
Unintended consequences
Epidemiological Transition
Pestilence & Famine
Pre - industrial
Receding Pandemics
Industrial
Degenerative & Man Made Diseases
Post - industrial
Then and Now
PREVENTABLE
Physiology
Humans are designed for movement and have evolved to have high levels of energy expenditure
P T Katzmarzyk, 2010; Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Health: Paradigm Paralysis or Paradigm Shift? Diabetes;59,11
“Despite all the technological advances in modern medicine, regular physical activity is as close as we’ve come to a magic bullet for good health.”
Dr JoAnne E. Manson, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School & Chief, Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital
Benefits of physical activity
P T Katzmarzyk, Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Health: Paradigm Paralysis or Paradigm Shift? Diabetes; Nov 2010; 59, 11
Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study
~10,000 men~3,000 women 8 years
Types of Physical Activity
Physical Activity
Recreational
Utilitarian
Direct demand
Behavioural
Indirect demand
Environmental
Recreational Activity
Utilitarian Activity
Types of Physical Activity
Physical Activity
Recreational
Utilitarian
POLICY RESPONSE
Behaviour – based
Individual scale
POLICY RESPONSE
Circumstance - based
Environment – scale
People respond to their environment
People respond to their environment
Would you walk here................................................or here?
Would you cycle here...............................................or here?
Transportation Research Board (2005)
“built environments designed to facilitate more active lifestyles and to reduce barriers to physical activity are desirable”.
Walkability
• Density
• Mix of uses
• ConnectivityProximity}-
Residents’ assessment of their neighbourhoods’ walkability
Researchers’ own prior assessment of degrees of walkability
Very strong correlation (p<0.0001)
Measuring Urban Form
Net residential density+
Street connectivity+
Land use mix
“An objectively measured walkability index was _significantly related to objectively measured
_moderate intensity physical activity in adults.”
(Lawrence et al, 2005)
Studies of studiesGlasgow Centre for Population Health (2006)
65 studies• Australia• Canada• Japan• UK• USA
Residents of walkable neighbourhoods always tend to undertake more physical activity
Walkability encourages exercise, irrespective of whether or not people have an expressed preference for it.
Hanlon P., D. Walsh and B. Whyte (2006) “Let Glasgow Flourish”; Glasgow Centre for Population Health
Van Dyk et al (2009)
Importance of utilitarianism
““There was…a difference between There was…a difference between neighbourhoods regarding walking for errands. neighbourhoods regarding walking for errands. This…is consistent with transportation research This…is consistent with transportation research that finds that finds no differences in walking for exercise but finds significant differences in walking for transport purposes between high- and low walkability neighbourhoods" neighbourhoods"
Saelens et al, 2003
Recap
Research Implications
1. Neighbourhood walkability = objective measure
2. Walkability correlates with physical activity
3. Physical activity correlates with significantly
lower levels of illness and better health
4.Walkable and bikeable mixed use environments
contribute significantly to public health
= Objective, public health based justification for walkable, mixed use urban design
george.weeks@cantab.net