New Tool Calculates Cost-Benefit Analysis of Pedestrian and Bike Projects
Sidewalks, bike lanes and traffic calming projects save lives not only be preventing accidents, but also by promoting the routine physical activity that keeps people healthy. The World Health Organization has introduced a new tool that measures the economic value of those benefits. WHO's Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT) http://www.heatwalkingcycling.org/ can be used to evaluate proposed bike and pedestrian infrastructure projects by measuring their health impacts and calculating cost-benefit analyses as well as the economic value of reduced mortality. The tools recommended for planners and engineers, as well as bike/ped advocates.
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http://dc.streetsblog.org/2012/03/23/new-who-tool-calculates-the-health-savings-of-bikeped-infrastructure/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+streetsblog%2Fehob+%28Streetsblog+Capitol+Hill%29
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http://dc.streetsblog.org/2012/03/23/new-who-tool-calculates-the-health-savings-of-bikeped-infrastructure/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+streetsblog%2Fehob+%28Streetsblog+Capitol+Hill%29
Social Capital and the Built Environment: The Importance of Walkable Neighborhoods
| social_benefits_of_active_transport.pdf |
| active_transport_systematic_review.pdf |
| nz_active_transport_model.pdf |
Urban Design Influences Level of Physical Activity in Chinese Cities:
Middle Income Respondents Less Likely to Utilize Active Transport Options
"Chinese cities are different from many Western cities in relation to urban design, and far more densely populated. But a new study by New York University and East China Normal University researchers has found that the design of the built environment influences how much walking and bicycling people do in Chinese cities where obesity and chronic diseases are at highly elevated levels and still rising.
"While not surprising," write the authors in their study published in the journal Preventive Medicine, "this finding is important, as it demonstrates that the association between the design of the built environment and walking, which has been found to be linked in research in Western countries, also holds true in China."
Entitled "Walking, obesity, and urban design in Chinese neighborhoods," the study was authored by Mariela Alfonzo and Kristen Day of NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering, Zhan Guo of NYU's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and Lin Lin of East China Normal University. Its principal finding, the researchers write, is "part of emerging evidence that will be of critical importance to persuade local government officials and developers of the value of pursuing more walkable urban development patterns."
Reflecting on China's high rates of obesity and chronic diseases, the researchers set out to explore the impact of the built environment on physical activity in six densely populated neighborhoods in Shanghai and Hangzhou. The chosen communities encompassed urban core, inner-suburban, and outer-suburban areas. Each was inventoried for ease of walking and bicycling, inclusive of such features as sidewalks, street trees, benches, street widths, and curb cuts. Also, the communities were audited for barriers to pedestrians and bicyclists, such as vendors and parked cars obstructing sidewalks, visible air pollution, bicycle lane hindrances, and overhead pedestrian bridges, which require greater exertion to use to cross the street.
Four hundred and fifty-five Shanghai residents and 615 Hangzhou residents were surveyed for the study in central public spaces in order to assess rates of walking and bicycling for travel and recreation, and for health outcomes, including Body Mass Index (BMI), demographic information, and environmental perceptions. The higher the neighborhood ranked overall in the "State of Place Index" - a method of categorizing communities' place-quality and walkability based on such urban design characteristics as density, parks and public space, personal safety, and pedestrian infrastructure and amenities (the index encompasses 11 different dimensions in all) - the greater were the levels of walking and bicycling for commuting and recreation that were seen.
According to the study, income levels played a role in how much a respondent walked or bicycled, but not in a predictable way: Both higher and lower income respondents were more likely to have lower BMI, compared to middle income respondents, who were more likely to live in suburban neighborhoods that have auto-oriented transportation and a lack of pedestrian amenities. Put another way, middle-income respondents were less likely to utilize active-travel options, such as walking and bicycling, as compared with both high- and low- income respondents. Separately, many of those who perceived their neighborhoods as unsuitable for walking actually walked more; it is likely that their alternatives to walking were limited, which presents a social-equity issue.
While the researchers did not examine the food environment, their study recommends that food intake be explored by other researchers in the future to shed further light on the link between income, obesity and walking in Chinese cities. For their own part, the authors plan to follow up their study by examining the impact that each of the 11 individual dimensions that make up the "State of Place Index" has on physical activity centered in Shanghai and Hangzhou." Original article found at http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-02-urban-physical-chinese-cities.html
"While not surprising," write the authors in their study published in the journal Preventive Medicine, "this finding is important, as it demonstrates that the association between the design of the built environment and walking, which has been found to be linked in research in Western countries, also holds true in China."
Entitled "Walking, obesity, and urban design in Chinese neighborhoods," the study was authored by Mariela Alfonzo and Kristen Day of NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering, Zhan Guo of NYU's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and Lin Lin of East China Normal University. Its principal finding, the researchers write, is "part of emerging evidence that will be of critical importance to persuade local government officials and developers of the value of pursuing more walkable urban development patterns."
Reflecting on China's high rates of obesity and chronic diseases, the researchers set out to explore the impact of the built environment on physical activity in six densely populated neighborhoods in Shanghai and Hangzhou. The chosen communities encompassed urban core, inner-suburban, and outer-suburban areas. Each was inventoried for ease of walking and bicycling, inclusive of such features as sidewalks, street trees, benches, street widths, and curb cuts. Also, the communities were audited for barriers to pedestrians and bicyclists, such as vendors and parked cars obstructing sidewalks, visible air pollution, bicycle lane hindrances, and overhead pedestrian bridges, which require greater exertion to use to cross the street.
Four hundred and fifty-five Shanghai residents and 615 Hangzhou residents were surveyed for the study in central public spaces in order to assess rates of walking and bicycling for travel and recreation, and for health outcomes, including Body Mass Index (BMI), demographic information, and environmental perceptions. The higher the neighborhood ranked overall in the "State of Place Index" - a method of categorizing communities' place-quality and walkability based on such urban design characteristics as density, parks and public space, personal safety, and pedestrian infrastructure and amenities (the index encompasses 11 different dimensions in all) - the greater were the levels of walking and bicycling for commuting and recreation that were seen.
According to the study, income levels played a role in how much a respondent walked or bicycled, but not in a predictable way: Both higher and lower income respondents were more likely to have lower BMI, compared to middle income respondents, who were more likely to live in suburban neighborhoods that have auto-oriented transportation and a lack of pedestrian amenities. Put another way, middle-income respondents were less likely to utilize active-travel options, such as walking and bicycling, as compared with both high- and low- income respondents. Separately, many of those who perceived their neighborhoods as unsuitable for walking actually walked more; it is likely that their alternatives to walking were limited, which presents a social-equity issue.
While the researchers did not examine the food environment, their study recommends that food intake be explored by other researchers in the future to shed further light on the link between income, obesity and walking in Chinese cities. For their own part, the authors plan to follow up their study by examining the impact that each of the 11 individual dimensions that make up the "State of Place Index" has on physical activity centered in Shanghai and Hangzhou." Original article found at http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-02-urban-physical-chinese-cities.html
Walk Score Debunked – The Surprise Results of Scientific Research
Michael Nirenberg, D.P.M., B.Sc., B.A.
May 2013 Get More Out of Walking! My story starts with me finding Walk Score online (www.WalkScore.com). Immediately, I plugged in my office location in Crown Point, Indiana. It scored a 36 on a scale of 0 to 100, which Walk Score designates “Car-Dependent.” That surprised me, since Crown Point is scenic, and a place I consider great for walking. Next, I looked at the Walk Score listing for Indiana cities and found East Chicago ranked nearly double (62) or what Walk Score would say is “Somewhat Walkable.” That also surprised me. I know from first-hand experience that Crown Point is a beautiful place to walk for exercise and East Chicago is. . . How do I say it? Well, it is not so nice a place to walk. Factually, East Chicago had a crime rate of 598 per 100,000 people in 2011 while Crown Point had a rate of 114 per 100,000 people (from www.city-data.com, which defines crime as murders, rapes, assaults, thefts and arson.) For comparison, the U.S. average crime rate is 307. Also, East Chicago is less scenic than Crown Point. East Chicago has abandoned buildings, and since around 1960, its population has steadily declined – by nearly 50 percent. Crown Point has few (if any) abandoned buildings, and its population has never declined significantly. Overall, it has grown. Crown Point and East Chicago are merely two examples of a discrepancy between Walk Score and how truly walkable one would find these communities. In themselves, these two inconsistencies do not prove anything, but they prodded me to dig deeper. As background, Walk Score was the brainchild of Front Seat and from their website is committed to “civic software.” Under the “News” section of the website, it says that Walk Score has raised 2 million dollars in its “first round” of venture capital financing. Walk Score offers an advertiser-supported version and a Premium Walk Score Neighborhood map version. To have the premium Walk Score map on your website the fee is “tier” based, calculated on how much it is used. For example, to have 5000 daily Walk Score map views the charge is $150.00 a month. According to Walk Score’s website, Walk Score is on over 20,000 realtor, apartment rental and other residential “for sale” type websites. (You can check out Walk Score on Zillow, ForRent.com, MRED and others.) Here are Walk Score’s definitions for its values: 90–100 – Walker’s Paradise (Errands do not need a vehicle.) 70–89 – Very Walkable (Most errands done on foot.) 50–69 – Somewhat Walkable (Some errands done on foot.) 25–49 – Car-Dependent (Most errands need a vehicle.) 0–24 – Car-Dependent (Almost all errands done by car.) What Is Walk Score? According to Wikipedia, “Walk Score is an algorithmically derived walkability index based on the distance to the closest amenity in each of several categories. . .” Dr. Lucas J. Carr, working at the Department of Exercise and Sport Science at East Carolina University, led a research study titled, “Walk Score As a Global Estimate of Neighborhood Walkability,” published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine. Carr and his co-authors explain that walk score calculates a score of “walkability” from data provided by Google. Walk Score calculates its score based on the distance (from a given address) to 13 categories of amenities: hardware stores, clothing/music, grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants, movie theaters, schools, parks, libraries, bookstores, fitness centers, drugstores, and bars. The categories are each given the same weight and points are totaled and normalized to give a Walk Score of 0-100. What Does Walk Score Claim To Do? By glancing at a couple of pages from Walk Score’s website, I found that Walk Score claims to help people “find a walkable place to live.” Their mission is to “promote walkable neighborhoods.” This is very noble goal. Who does not want to live in a walkable neighborhood? The question is, what the heck does walkable mean? Well, it depends on who you ask. Dictionary.com defines “walkable” as capable of being traveled, crossed, or covered by walking and suited to or adapted for walking. The earlier Wikipedia Walk Score definition and Dr. Carr’s definition of Walk Score do not reveal anything in the Walk Score calculation that helps determine whether an area is capable of being traveled by walking or “suited to or adapted” for walking. Obviously, just because someone lives in proximity of several hardware stores (or other amenities) does not mean they can actually walk to them. We all know there are areas that lack sidewalks or are “cut off” from nearby amenities by busy multi-lane roads and other barriers. The TDM Encyclopedia defines a “walkable community” by quoting Dan Burden of Walkable Communities (www.walkable.org). Burden is an amazing walking advocate and you can read his biography at Walkable and Livable Communities Institute. In brief, he was named one of the “Top 100 Urban Thinkers” by Planetizen, while Time Magazine said he is “one of the six most important civic innovators in the world.” He is also on the board of advisers for Walk Score. Dan Burden’s definition:
I know it’s long, but if you just skimmed over it–don’t! It is well worth reading, and striving for. Burden’s definition is extremely thorough and reasonable, however, it does NOT directly mention what Walk Score calculates — “distance to amenities.” So is Walk Score even figuring out something that the experts consider part of a walkable community? Well, I think they are, but to a very small extent. Indirectly, we can reasonably presume that part of a walkable community is having amenities within walking distance. Walk Score does SEEM to meet this indirect part of Burden’s definition. Complete research and article can be viewed at: http://flowalking.com/ |
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