Although zoning is recognized for its role in facilitating healthy communities, no study has examined whether active living–oriented zoning codes are associated with adult leisure time physical activity (PA). This study sought to fill this gap and hypothesized that adult leisure time PA would be greater in communities with more progressive zoning code reforms and more active living–oriented zoning. Zoning codes for 1,617 county and municipal jurisdictions located in 30 states (covering ~40% of the U.S. population) were evaluated for code reform zoning and 11 active living markers. County-aggregated zoning measures were created for linking with five adult PA behaviors obtained from the 2011 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System controlling for individual and county sociodemographics. Zoning elements most associated with adult PA included requirements for mixed use, active and passive recreation, bike parking/street furniture, and bike-pedestrian trails/paths. This study provides new insights into the role that zoning can play in facilitating adult PA.
American Planning Association. (2006). Planning and urban design standards (1st ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.
2.
AndersonJ. M.MacDonaldJ. M.BluthenthalR.AshwoodJ. S. (2013). Reducing crime by shaping the built environment with zoning: An empirical study of Los Angeles. University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 161, 699-756.
3.
AyturS. A.RodriguezD. A.EvensonK. R.CatellierD. J. (2008). Urban containment policies and physical activity: A time-series analysis of metropolitan areas, 1990-2002. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 34, 320-332.
4.
BerriganD.TroianoR. P. (2002). The association between urban form and physical activity in U.S. adults. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 23(2 Suppl. 1), 74-79.
5.
BoothK. M.PinkstonM. M.PostonW. S. (2005). Obesity and the built environment. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 105(5 Suppl. 1), S110-S117.
6.
CannonC. L.ThomasS.TreffersR. D.PaschallM. J.HeumannL.MannG. W.. . . NauenbergS. (2013). Testing the results of municipal mixed-use zoning ordinances: A novel methodological approach. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 38, 815-839.
7.
DavidsonM.DolnickF. (2004). A planner’s dictionary (PAS Report 521/522). Chicago, IL: American Planning Association.
8.
DavisonK. K.LawsonC. T. (2006). Do attributes in the physical environment influence children’s physical activity? A review of the literature. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 3, Article 19.
9.
DayK. (2006). Active living and social justice: Planning for physical activity in low-income, Black, and Latino communities. Journal of the American Planning Association, 72(1), 88-99.
ElliottD.GoebelM.MeadowsC. (2012). The rules that shape urban form (Planning Advisory Service Reports). Chicago, IL: American Planning Association.
12.
EwingR.CerveroR. (2010). Travel and the built environment. Journal of the American Planning Association, 76, 265-294.
13.
EwingR.GreenwaldM.ZhangM.WaltersJ.CerveroR.FrankL.. . . ThomasJ. (2011). Traffic generated by mixed-use developments—A six-region study using consistent built environmental measures. Journal of Urban Planning and Development, 137, 248-261.
EwingR.HandyS.BrownsonR. C.ClementeO.WinstonE. (2006). Identifying and measuring urban design qualities related to walkability. Journal of Physical Activity & Health, 3(Suppl. 1), S223-S240.
16.
EwingR.MeakinsG.HamidiS.NelsonA. C. (2014). Relationship between urban sprawl and physical activity, obesity, and morbidity—Update and refinement. Health & Place, 26, 118-126.
17.
EwingR.SchmidT.KillingsworthR.ZlotA.RaudenbushS. (2003). Relationship between urban sprawl and physical activity, obesity, and morbidity. American Journal of Health Promotion, 18, 47-57.
18.
EwingR.TianG.GoatesJ. P.ZhangM.GreenwaldM. J.JoyceA.. . . GreeneW. (2014). Varying influences of the built environment on household travel in 15 diverse regions of the United States. Urban Studies, 52, 2330-2348.
19.
FischelW. A. (2004). An economic history of zoning and a cure for its exclusionary effects. Urban Studies, 41, 317-340.
GenelettiD. (2013). Assessing the impact of alternative land-use zoning policies on future ecosystem services. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 40, 25-35.
22.
HandyS. L.BoarnetM. G.EwingR.KillingsworthR. E. (2002). How the built environment affects physical activity: Views from urban planning. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 23(2 Suppl.), 64-73.
23.
HeathG. W.BrownsonR. C.KrugerJ.MilesR.PowellK. E.RamseyL. T., & Task Force on Community Preventive Services. (2006). The effectiveness of urban design and land use and transport policies and practices to increase physical activity: A systematic review. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 3(Suppl. 1), S55-S76.
24.
Institute of Medicine. (2005). Preventing childhood obesity: Health in the balance. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
25.
KellyC. M.WilsonJ. S.BakerE. A.MillerD. K.SchootmanM. (2013). Using Google Street View to audit the built environment: Inter-rater reliability results. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 45(Suppl. 1), S108-S112.
26.
LeinbergerC. B. (2007). The option of urbanism: Investing in a new American dream. Washington, DC: Island Press.
27.
LevineJ. (2010). Zoned out: Regulation, markets, and choices in transportation and metropolitan land use. Washington, DC: Resources for the Future.
28.
LiF.FisherK. J.BrownsonR. C.BosworthM. (2005). Multilevel modelling of built environment characteristics related to neighbourhood walking activity in older adults. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 59, 558-564.
29.
NortonR. K. (2008). Using content analysis to evaluate local master plans and zoning codes. Land Use Policy, 25, 432-454.
30.
O’ConnellL. C. (2008). Exploring the social roots of smart growth policy adoption by cities. Social Science Quarterly, 89, 1356-1372.
31.
PierannunziC.HuS. S.BalluzL. (2013). A systematic review of publications assessing reliability and validity of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), 2004-2011. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 13(1), Article 49.
32.
PowellL. M.SlaterS.ChaloupkaF. J. (2004). The relationship between community physical activity settings and race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Evidence-Based Preventive Medicine, 1(2), 135-144.
33.
PucherJ.DillJ.HandyS. (2010). Infrastructure, programs, and policies to increase bicycling: An international review. Preventive Medicine, 50(Suppl. 1), S106-S125.
34.
SaelensB. E.SallisJ. F.BlackJ. B.ChenD. (2003). Neighborhood-based differences in physical activity: An environment scale evaluation. American Journal of Public Health, 93, 1552-1558.
35.
SaelensB. E.SallisJ. F.FrankL. (2003). Environmental correlates of walking and cycling: Findings from the transportation, urban design, and planning literatures. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 25, 80-91.
36.
SallisJ. F.BaumanA.PrattM. (1998). Environmental and policy interventions to promote physical activity. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 15, 379-397.
37.
SallisJ. F.CerveroR. B.AscherW.HendersonK. A.KraftM. K.KerrJ. (2006). An ecological approach to creating active living communities. Annual Review of Public Health, 27, 297-322.
38.
SallisJ. F.GlanzK. (2006). The role of built environments in physical activity, eating, and obesity in childhood. The Future of Children, 16(1), 89-108.
39.
SallisJ. F.SpoonC.CavillN.EngelbergJ. K.GebelK.ParkerM.. . . DingD. (2015). Co-benefits of designing communities for active living: An exploration of literature. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 12, Article 30.
40.
SchillingJ.LintonL. S. (2005). The public health roots of zoning: In search of active living’s legal genealogy. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 28(2 Suppl. 2), 96-104.
41.
SchillingJ.MishkovskyN. (2005). Creating a regulatory blueprint for healthy community design: A local government guide to reforming zoning and land development codes (E-43346). Washington, DC: International City/County Management Association.
42.
SitkowskiR. J.OhmB. W. (2006). Form-based land development regulations. Urban Lawyer, 38(1), 163-172.
43.
SlaterS. J.EwingR.PowellL. M.ChaloupkaF. J.JohnstonL. D.O’MalleyP. M. (2010). The association between community physical activity settings and youth physical activity, obesity, and body mass index. Journal of Adolescent Health, 47, 496-503.
44.
SteelB. S.LovrichN. P. (2000). Growth management policy and county government: Correlates of policy adoption across the United States. State and Local Government Review, 32, 7-19.
45.
TalenE. (2012). City rules: How regulations affect urban form. Washington, DC: Island Press.
46.
TalenE. (2013). Zoning for and against sprawl: The case for form-based codes. Journal of Urban Design, 18, 175-200.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2001). The surgeon general’s call to action to prevent and decrease overweight and obesity. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Office of the Surgeon General.
51.
WilsonJ. S.KellyC. M.SchootmanM.BakerE. A.BanerjeeA.ClenninM.MillerD. K. (2012). Assessing the built environment using omnidirectional imagery. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 42, 193-199.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
