Sprawl and Health

Rajamani 2003 - "Assessing the Impact of Urban Form Measures in Nonwork Trip Mode Choice After Controlling for Demographic and Level-of Service Effects"

Jayanthi Rajamani, Chanra R.  Bhat, et al.
"Assessing the Impact of Urban Form Measures in Nonwork Trip Mode Choice After Controlling for Demographic and Level-of Service Effects"
Presented at the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting (2003)
Session 747: Transportation and Urban Form
Wednesday, January 15, 2003, 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM, Hilton
On the Web

The abstract:
The relation between travel behavior and the local built environment has always been a contentious issue, despite several research efforts in the area. The current paper investigates the significance and explanatory power of a variety of urban form measures on nonwork activity travel mode choice. The data used for analysis is the 1995 Portland Metropolitan Activity Survey conducted by Portland Metro. The multinomial logit mode choice model results indicate that higher residential densities and mixed-uses promote walking behavior for nonwork activities.

 

Crane 1998 - "Does Neighborhood Design Influence Travel?: A Behavioral Analysis of Travel Diary and GIS Data"

Randall Crane and Richard Crepeau
"Does Neighborhood Design Influence Travel?: A Behavioral Analysis of Travel Diary and GIS Data"
Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment
3(4):225-238 (July 1998)
On the Web

 

From the abstract:
An analysis of household travel diary and GIS data for San Diego finds little role for land use in explaining travel behavior, and no evidence that the street network pattern affects either short or long non-work travel decisions. While results may vary in other areas, the empirical argument for using land use as an element of regional air quality or other environmental plans remains to be demonstrated.

(I didn't read the study intensively enough to comment, but see Cervero and Gorham (1995) for another study on Southern California.)

 

Cervero 2002 - "Built Environments and mode Choice: Toward a Normative Framework"

Robert Cervero
"Built Environments and mode Choice: Toward a Normative Framework"
Transportation Research Part D
7(4):265-284 (2002)
On the Web

From the abstract:
The analysis reveals intensities and mixtures of land use significantly influence decisions to drive-alone, share a ride, or patronize transit, while the influences of urban design tend to be more modest. Elasticities that summarize relationships are also presented...

Cervero 1995 - "Commuting in Transit Versus Automobile Neighborhoods"

Robert Cervero and Roger Gorham
"Commuting in Transit Versus Automobile Neighborhoods"
Journal of the American Planning Association
61(2):210-225 (Spring 1995)

From the abstract:
This article compares commuting characteristics of transit-oriented and auto-oriented suburban neighborhoods in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Southern California. Transit neighborhoods averaged higher densities and had more gridded street patterns compared to their nearby counterparts with auto-oriented physical designs. . . For both metropolitan areas, pedestrian modal shares and trip generation rates tended to be considerably higher in transit than in auto-oriented neighborhoods. Transit neighborhoods had decidedly higher rates of bus commuting only in the Bay Area. Islands of transit-oriented neighborhoods in a sea of freeway -oriented suburbs seem to have negligible effects on transit commuting.

Frank 2005 - "A Study of Land Use, Transportation, Air Quality, and Health (LUTAQH) in King County, WA: Executive Summary"

Frank, Lawrence (Lawrence Frank & Company, Inc.)
"A Study of Land Use, Transportation, Air Quality, and Health (LUTAQH) in King County, WA: Executive Summary"
September 27, 2005, Submitted to King County officials.
Relevance: high
On the Web (big pdf)

NOTE: The following summary includes only the sections of this report that deal with air quality and vehicle emissions.

The study examined per capita VOC and NOx emissions from both automobile and transit trips. It uses a variety of measures to classify urban, suburban and other land uses. Urban land uses are responsible for much lower air pollution, on a per capita basis, than suburban land uses. Interestingly, the strongest correlate to lower per capita emissions is “street connectivity.”

• “Significantly lower estimates for NOx were generated by respondents living in areas with higher levels of retail floor area ratio, intersection density, and land use mix and residential density. Increased street connectivity where people live appeared to be the most closely associated with NOx. Mean emissions of NOx declined from 29 to 23 grams per person per day, a 26 percent reduction, between residents of the most to the least connected environments.”
• “Significantly lower levels of VOC’s were found for respondents in areas with higher levels of floor area ratio and intersection density and residential density. Improvements to street connectivity where people lived appeared to be the most effective tool to reduce VOC’s as well. Mean emissions of VOC’s declined from 14 to 12 grams per person per day, a 7 percent reduction, for residents of the most to least connected environments.”

Ewing 2002 - "Measuring Sprawl and Its Impact"

Ewing, Reid; Pendall, Rolf; Chen, Don
"Measuring Sprawl and Its Impact"
Smart Growth America
2002
On the Web
Relevance: high

Ewing et al. created a sprawl index for ~83 metropolitan areas, incorporating density, land use mix, centeredness, and street accessibility. The authors also estimated the impact of sprawl on various transportation-related outcomes. They found that a higher degree of sprawl is associated with higher average vehicle ownership, daily VMT per capita, annual traffic fatality rate, and maximum ozone level; more sprawl was associated with a lower share of work trips by transit and walking. Note that, as with most sprawl studies, we can't assume a causal relationship.

Ewing 2005 - "Can the Physical Environment Determine Physical Activity Levels?"

Ewing, Reid
"Can the Physical Environment Determine Physical Activity Levels?"
Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews
April 2005; v.33, n.2; pp.69-75
On the Web (pdf)
Relevance: medium high

Ewing seems to be primarily reviewing and re-presenting earlier work, but does so in a concise, easy-to-grasp way. Although he doesn't show any of the data or analysis, Ewing offers elasticity estimates for the effect of the physical environment on physical activity and its mediators. The effects are greatest for the mode share of walking and public transportation. CAVEAT: Ewing shows no statistical tests or analysis, so the accuracy of these estimates is unknown.

Handy 2002 - "How the Built Environment Affects Physical Activity: Views from Urban Planning"

Handy, Susan L.; Boarnet, Marlon G. et al
"How the Built Environment Affects Physical Activity: Views from Urban Planning"
American Journal of Preventive Medicine
August 2002; v.23, n.2 (supplement)
On the Web (pdf)
Relevance: low

The authors give a good overview of how urban planners think about how the built environment impacts physical activity, namely walking and biking.  They cover how to measure the built environment and travel behavior, how the built environment affects travel by foot differently from travel by car, and some tips on how empirically to connect the built environment to physical activity.

Giles-Corti 2005 - "How Important is Distance To, Attractiveness, and Size of Public Open Space?"

Giles-Corti, Billie; Broomhall, Melissa; et al
"How Important is Distance To, Attractiveness, and Size of Public Open Space?"
American Journal of Preventive Medicine
February 2005; vol.28, n.2 (supplement 2); pp.169-176
On the Web
Relevance: low

The authors surveyed Australian adults in Perth and used some sort of GIS to conclude that people walk more if they have more access to large, attractive public open space with facilities for multiple types of users. While access alone to open space was not significantly associated with achieving recommended levels of physical activity, access to large, attractive open space increased the likelihood of walking at least 6 times per week totaling >180 minutes by 50%.

King 2003 - "The Relationship Between Convenience of Destinations and Walking Levels in Older Women"

King, Wendy C.; Brach, Jennifer S.; et al.
"The Relationship Between Convenience of Destinations and Walking Levels in Older Women"
American Journal of Health Promotion
Sept-Oct 2003; vol.18, n.1; pp.74-82
On the Web
Relevance: medium-high

Using a small sample (149) of older women, the authors found that living within a 20 minute walk of a park; biking or walking trail; or a department, discount, or hardware store was significantly related to walking more, as objectively measured by pedometer readings.  Walking was also associated with living near more destinations and with a better neighborhood rating for walking.

Owen 2004 - "Understanding the Environmental Influences on Walking: Review and Research Agenda"

Owen, Neville; Humpel, Nancy; et al.
"Understanding the Environmental Influences on Walking: Review and Research Agenda"
American Journal of Preventive Medicine
July 2004; vol.27, n.1; pp.67-76.
On the Web
Relevance: medium

The authors review eighteen studies and conclude that the early evidence is promising.  The studies show that aesthetic attributes, convenience of walking facilities (sidewalks, trails), accessibility of destinations, and perceptions about traffic are associated with utilitarian walking.  However, better theoretical models and more studies, especially ones that examine a causal relationship, are needed.

Ewing 2003 - "Relationship Between Urban Sprawl and Physical Activity, Obesity, and Mortality"

Ewing, Reid; Schmid, Tom, et al
"Relationship Between Urban Sprawl and Physical Activity, Obesity, and Mortality"
American Journal of Health Promotion
September/October 2003; vol.18, n.1; pp.47-57
On the Web
Relevance: high

The authors estimated the impact of a county and metropolitan area sprawl index on obesity, physical activity, and related diseases. They found that the county  index significantly influenced the number of minutes spent in leisure-time walking, average BMI, obesity status, and prevalence of hypertension.

Frank 2001 - "The Built Environment and Human Activity Patterns"

Frank, Lawrence D; Englke, Peter O
"The Built Environment and Human Activity Patterns: Exploring the Impacts of Urban Form on Public Health"
Journal of Planning Literature
November 2001; v.17, n.2; pp.202-218
On the Web
Relevance: low

Frank and Engelke reviews current literature to explore how physical activity affects public health and how urban form affects physical activity. The article is a good introduction to the subject with references to many useful studies (also reviewed in this  lit review), but a few of which are outdated.

Schilling 2005 - “The Public Health Roots of Zoning: In Search of Active Living’s Legal Genealogy”

Schilling, Joseph;  Linton , Leslie S.
“The Public Health Roots of Zoning: In Search of Active Living’s Legal Genealogy”
American Journal of Preventive Medicine
February 2005; v.28, n.2, Supplement 2; pp.96-104.
On the Web
Relevance: low

Schilling and Linton give a good overview of zoning, its origin in public health, and how to adapt zoning to today's public health problems.

Saelens 2003 - “Neighborhood-Based Differences in Physical Activity: An Environment Scale Evaluation”

Saelens, Brian E.; Sallis, James F.; Black, Jennifer B.; Chen, Diana.
“Neighborhood-Based Differences in Physical Activity: An Environment Scale Evaluation”
American Journal of Public Health
September 2003; v.93, n.9.
On the Web
Relevance: high

Saelens et al conducted a small preliminary study using accelerometers and surveys to analyze how activity levels and body mass indexes differ between two neighborhoods: one with high-walkability, one with low-walkability.  They found that residents of high-walkability neighborhoods walked more for errands, engaged in more moderate to vigorous physical activity, and were less likely to be overweight.  Interestingly, this study suggests that walkability primarily affects walking for errands but not walking for exercise.

Powell 2003 - "Places to Walk: Convenience and Regular Physical Activity"

Powell, Kenneth E.; Martin, Linda M. ; Chowdhury, Pranesh P.
“Places to Walk: Convenience and Regular Physical Activity.”
American Journal of Public Health.
September 2003; v.93, n.9; pp. 1519-1521.
On the Web
Relevance: low

By a telephone survey study participants were asked to name safe and convenient places to walk.  Most participants could name at least one place and those who could name more places were more likely to be physically active.

Burchell 2003 - "Conventional Development Versus Managed Growth: The Costs of Sprawl"

Burchell RW and Mukherji S.
“Conventional Development Versus Managed Growth: The Costs of Sprawl.”  American Journal of Public Health.
December 2003; v.91, n.9; pp1534-1540.1
On the Web
relevance: medium

Using a mathematical model to compare the effects of sprawl versus compact development, the authors find that sprawl requires converting more undeveloped land and building more roads and water/sewer infrastructure.  Sprawl also leads to higher pubic service costs and housing costs.

Leyden 2003 - "Social Capital and the Built Environment: The Importance of Walkable Neighborhoods"

Leyden, Kevin M.
“Social Capital and the Built Environment: The Importance of Walkable Neighborhoods” American Journal of Public Health
September 2003; v.93, n.9; pp. 1546-1551.
On the web
Relevance: high

Leyden investigated the relationship between neighborhood design and residents' social capital using a household survey in Galway, Ireland.  People who lived in walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods had higher levels of social capital, and were more likely to know their neighbors, participate politically, trust others, and be socially engaged, than those who lived in car-oriented suburbs.