Health and community design : the impact of the built environment on physical activity / Lawrence D. Frank, Peter O. Engelke, Thomas L. Schmid.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Frank, Lawrence D.

Contributor:

Engelke, Peter (Peter O.)

Schmid, Thomas.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Urban health.

Transportation--Health aspects.

Transportation.

City planning--Health aspects.

City planning.

Health behavior.

Physical Description:

xiii, 253 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Washington, DC : Island Press, [2003]

Summary:

Health and Community Design is a comprehensive examination of how the built environment encourages or discourages physical activity, drawing together insights from a range of research on the relationships between urban form and public health. It provides important information about the factors that influence decisions about physical activity and modes of travel, and about how land use patterns can be changed to help overcome barriers to physical activity. Chapters examine: - the historical relationship between health and urban form in the United States- why urban and suburban development should be designed to promote moderate types of physical activity- the divergent needs and requirements of different groups of people and the role of those needs in setting policy- how different settings make it easier or more difficult to incorporate walking and bicycling into everyday activitiesA concluding chapter reviews the arguments presented and sketches a research agenda for the future.

Contents:

Public health and urban form in America: historical precedents

Physical activity and public health

Physical activity: types and patterns

Physical activity: children, the elderly, and the poor

Understanding the built environment

Transportation systems

Land use patterns

Urban design characteristics

Application of principles: the data from Seattle and Atlanta.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [223]-242) and index.

ISBN:

1559639172

OCLC:

51518657