Promoting Active Transportation as a Partnership between Urban Planning and Public Health: The Columbus Healthy Places Program

Abstract

Active transportation has been considered as one method to address the American obesity epidemic. To address obesity prevention through builtenvironment change, the local public health department in Columbus, Ohio, established the Columbus Healthy Places (CHP) program to formally promote active transportation in numerous aspects of community design for the city.

In this article, we present a case study of the CHP program and discuss the review of city development rezoning applications as a successful strategy to link public health to urban planning. Prior to the CHP review, 7% of development applications in Columbus included active transportation components; in 2009, 64% of development applications adopted active transportation components specifically recommended by the CHP review. Active transportation recommendations generally included adding bike racks, widening or adding sidewalks, and providing sidewalk connectivity. Recommendations and lessons learned from CHP are provided.

References

Reuscher

Summary of travel trends: 2001 National Household Travel Survey. Washington: Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (US); 2004. Also available from: URL: http://nhts.ornl.gov/2001/pub/STT.pdf [cited 2010 Sep 15].

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US). U.S. obesity trends, trends by state, 1985–2008. Atlanta: CDC; 2009. Also available from: URL: http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html [cited 2010 Sep 15].

Prevalence of self-reported physically active adults—United States, 2007. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2008;57(48):1297–300.

Active Living Research, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Active transportation: Making the link from transportation to physical activity and obesity. Research Brief, Summer 2009 [cited 2010 Sep 16]. Available from: URL: http://www.activelivingresearch.org/files/ALR_Brief_ActiveTransportation.pdf.

Goodell S, Williams CH; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The built environment and physical activity: What is the relationship? The Synthesis Project, Policy Brief No. 11, April 2007 [cited 2010 Sep 15]. Available from: URL: http://www.rwjf.org/files/research/no11policybrief.pdf.

Ewing

Schmid

Killingsworth

Zlot

Raudenbush

Relationship between urban sprawl and physical activity, obesity, and morbidity. Am J Health Promot 2003;18:47–57.

Schilling

Linton

, The public health roots of zoning: In search of active living's legal genealogy. Am J Prev Med 2005;28(2 Suppl 2):96–104.

National Center for Safe Routes to School. Safe routes to school travel data: A look at baseline results from parent surveys and student travel tallies, January 2010 [cited 2010 Sep 15]. Available from: URL: http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/resources/collateral/SRTS_baseline_data_report.pdf.

Columbus Public Health, Office of Assessment and Surveillance. 2005 Franklin County Community Health Risk Assessment. Columbus (OH): Columbus Public Health; 2005. Also available from: URL: http://publichealth.columbus.gov/uploadedFiles/Webtxt.pdf [cited 2010 Sep 14].

10.

Ohio Department of Health, Division of Family and Community Health Services, School and Adolescent Health Section. Report on body mass index of Ohio's third graders, 2004–2005. Columbus (OH): Ohio Department of Health; 2006.

11.

Department of Health and Human Services (US). Physical activity guidelines for Americans: Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee report, 2008. Washington: HHS; 2008. Also available from: URL: http://www.health.gov/PAGuidelines/Report [cited 2010 Oct 14].

12.

Alliance for Biking & Walking. Bicycling and walking in the United States: 2010 benchmarking report. Washington: Alliance for Biking & Walking; 2010.

13.

Besser

Dannenberg

, Walking to public transit: Steps to help meet physical activity recommendations. Am J Prev Med 2005;29:273–80.

14.

National Association of County & City Health Officials. Mobilizing for action through planning and partnerships (MAPP) field guide. Washington: NACCHO; 2001.

15.

Smart Growth Network. About Smart Growth [cited 2010 Sep 14]. Available from: URL: http://www.smartgrowth.org/about/default.asp.

16.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US), Task Force on Community Preventive Services. Guide to community preventive services: Promoting physical activity: Environmental and policy approaches [cited 2010 Oct 14]. Available from: URL: http://www.thecommunityguide.org/pa/environmental-policy/index.html.

17.

Boarnet

Anderson

Day

McMillan

Alfonzo

Evaluation of the California Safe Routes to School legislation: Urban form changes and children's active transportation to school. Am J Prev Med 2005;28:134–40.

18.

Schilling

Keyes

, The promise of Wisconsin's 1999 Comprehensive Planning Law: Land-use policy reforms to support active living. J Health Polit Policy Law 2008;33:455–96.