Detroit is a city with low-density housing and a high proportion of lower-socioeconomic-status multiethnic residents. Physical activity tends to be lower in low- to moderate-income urban communities. To understand the design components of healthy neighborhoods, interrelationships between built environment characteristics and walking behavior were studied for three neighborhoods. Results suggest that as independent predictors, higher density and multiple land uses tended to deter walking. However, residents of neighborhoods with strong well-connected street networks (both locally and globally) reported higher levels of walking as compared to those in less well-connected neighborhoods.
BlanchardC.M.McGannonK.R.SpenceJ.C.2005. “Social Ecological Correlates of Physical Activity in Normal Weight, Overweight, and Obese Individuals.” International Journal of Obesity29:720–26.
4.
BafnaS.2003. “Space Syntax: A Brief Introduction to Its Logic and Analytic Techniques.” Environment and Behavior35 (1): 17–29.
5.
BrownsonR.C.BakerE.A.HousemannR.A.BrennanJ.K.BacakS.J.2001. “Environmental and Policy Determinants of Physical Activity in the United States.” American Journal of Public Health91 (12): 1995–2003.
6.
BrownsonR.C.ChangJ.J.EylerA.A.AinsworthB.E.KirtlandK.A.SaelensB.E.2004. “Measuring the Environment for Friendliness toward Physical Activity: A Comparison of the Reliability of 3 Questionnaires.” American Journal of Public Health94 (3): 473–83.
7.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2008. “Prevalence of Self-reported Physically Active Adults—United States, 2007.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report57 (48): 1297–1300.
8.
CerveroR.KocklemanK.1997. “Travel Demand and the 3Ds: Density, Diversity, and Design.” Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment2 (3): 199–219.
9.
CraigC.L.MarshallA.L.SjostromM.BaumanA.BoothM.L.AinsworthB.E.2003. “International Physical Activity Questionnaire: 12-Country Reliability and Validity.” Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise35 (8): 1381–95.
10.
DesyllasJ.DuxburyE.2001. “Axial Maps and Visibility Analysis: A Comparison of Their Methodology and Use in Models of Urban Pedestrian Movement.” In Proceedings of the Third International Space Syntax Symposium. Atlanta, GA.
11.
EstabrooksP.A.LeeR.E.GyurcsikN.C.2003. “Resources for Physical Activity Participation: Does Availability and Accessibility Differ by Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status?Annals of Behavioral Medicine25 (2): 100–104.
12.
EwingR.HandyS.BrownsonC.ClementeO.WinstonE.2006. “Identifying and Measuring Urban Design Qualities Related to Walkability.” Journal of Physical Activity and Health3 (Suppl 1): S223–40.
13.
ForsythA.OakesJ.M.LeeB.SchmitzK.H.2009. “The Built Environment, Walking, and Physical Activity: Is the Environment More Important to Some People Than Others?” Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment14 (1): 42– 49.
14.
FrankL.EngelkeP.2005. “Multiple Impacts of the Built Environment on Public Health: Walkable Places and the Exposure to Air Pollution.” International Regional Science Review28 (2): 193–216.
15.
FrankL.PivoG.1994. “Impacts of Mixed Use and Density on Utilization of Three Modes of Travel: Single Occupant Vehicle, Transit and Walking.” Transportation Research Record1466:44–52.
16.
FrankL.D.AndresenM.A.SchmidT.L.2004. “Obesity Relationships with Community Design, Physical Activity, and Time Spent in Cars.” American Journal of Preventative Medicine27 (2): 87–96.
17.
FrankL.D.KerrJ.SallisJ.F.MilesR.ChapmanJ.2008. “A Hierarchy of Sociodemographic and Environmental Correlates of Walking and Obesity.” Preventative Medicine47 (2): 172–78.
18.
FrankL.D.SallisJ.F.ConwayT.L.ChapmanJ.E.2006. “Many Pathways from Land Use to Health.” Journal of the American Planning Association72 (1): 75–89.
19.
FrankL.D.SchmidT.L.SallisJ.F.ChapmanJ.SaelensB.E.2005. “Linking Objectively Measured Physical Activity with Objectively Measured Urban Form: Findings from SMARTRAQ.” American Journal of Preventative Medicine28 (Suppl 2): 117–25.
20.
Gordon-LarsenP.NelsonM.C.PageP.PopkinB.M.2006. “Inequality in the Built Environment Underlies Key Health Disparities in Physical Activity and Obesity.” Pediatrics117 (2): 417–24.
21.
HandyS.PatersonR.G.ButlerK.2003. Planning for Street Connectivity: Getting from Here to There. Chicago: American Planning Association.
22.
HillierB.1996. “Cities as Movement Economies.” Urban Design International1 (1): 41–60.
23.
HillierB.HansonJ.1984. The Social Logic of Space. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
24.
HillierB.PennA.HansonJ.GrajewskiT.XuJ.1993. “Natural Movement, or Configuration and Attraction in Urban Pedestrian Movement.” Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design20:29–66.
25.
KanjilalS.GreggE.W.ChengY.J.2006. “Socioeconomic Status and Trends in Disparities in 4 Major Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease among US Adults, 1971-2002.” Archives of Internal Medicine166 (21): 2348–55.
26.
KimH.SohnD.2002. “An Analysis of the Relationship between Land Use Density of Office Building and Urban Street Configuration.” Cities19 (6): 354–64.
27.
KingA.C.CastroC.WilcoxS.EylerA.A.SallisJ.F.BrownsonR. C.2000. “Personal and Environmental Factors Associated with Physical Inactivity among Different Racial-Ethnic Groups of U.S. Middle- Aged and Older-Aged Women.” Health Psychology19 (4): 354–64.
28.
KwartengJ.L.SchulzA.J.MentzG.B.ZenkS.N.OppermanA.A.2013. “Associations between Observed Neighborhood Characteristics and Physical Activity: Findings from a Multiethnic Urban Community.” Journal of Public Health (Oxford), October.
29.
LeeC.MoudonA.2004. “Physical Activity and Environment Research in the Health Field: Implications for Urban and Transportation Planning Practice and Research.” Journal of Planning Literature19:147–81.
30.
LeeC.MoudonA.V.2006. “The 3D’s+R: Quantifying Land Use and Urban Form Correlates of Walking.” Transportation Research Part D11:204–15.
31.
MarshallS.J.JonesD.A.AinsworthB.E.ReisJ.P.LevyS.S.MaceraC.A.2007. “Race/Ethnicity, Social Class, and Leisure-Time Physical Inactivity.” Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise39 (1): 44–51.
32.
NeckermanK.M.LovasiG.S.DaviesS.PurcielM.QuinnJ.FederE.2009. “Disparities in Urban Neighborhood Conditions: Evidence from GIS Measures and Field Observation in New York City.” Journal of Public Health Policy30 (Suppl 1): S264–85.
33.
OwenN.HempelN.LeslieE.BaumanA.SallisJ.F.2004. “Understanding Environmental Influences on Walking: Review and Research Agenda.” American Journal of Preventative Medicine27 (1): 67–76.
34.
PeponisJ.HadjinikolaouE.LivieratosC.FatourosD.A.1989. “The Spatial Core of Urban Culture.” Ekistics334–335:43–55.
35.
PeponisJ.RossC.E.RashidM.1997. “The Structure of Urban Space, Movement and Co-presence: The Case of Atlanta.” Geoforum28 (3–4): 341–58.
36.
PikoraT.Giles-CortiB.BullF.JamrozikK.DovovanR.2003. “Developing a Framework for Assessment of the Environmental Determinants of Walking and Cycling.” Social Science & Medicine56 (8): 1693–703.
ReadS.1999. “Space Syntax and the Dutch City.” Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design26 (2): 251–64.
39.
RubinD. B. (1987). Multiple Imputation for Nonresponse in Surveys. New York: John Wiley.
40.
SaelensB.E.HandyS.2008. “Built Environment Correlates of Walking: A Review.” Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise40 (7): S550–66.
41.
SaelensB.E.SallisJ.F.BlackJ.B.ChenD.2003. “Neighborhood-Based Differences in Physical Activity: An Environment Scale Evaluation.”American Journal of Public Health93 (9): 1552–58.
42.
SaelensB.E.SallisJ.F.FrankL.D.2003. “Environmental Correlates of Walking and Cycling: Findings from the Transportation, Urban Design, and Planning Literatures.” Annals of Behavioral Medicine25 (2): 80–91.
43.
SallisJ.F.FloydM.F.RodriguezD.A.SaelensB.E.2012. “Role of Built Environments in Physical Activity, Obesity, and Cardiovascular Disease.” Circulation125 (5): 729–37.
44.
SallisJ.F.JohnsonM.F.CalfasK.J.CaparosaS.NicholsJ.F.1997. “Assessing Perceived Physical Environmental Variables That May Influence Physical Activity.” Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport68 (4): 345–51.
45.
SallisJ.F.SaelensB.E.FrankL.D.ConwayT.L.SlymenD.J.CainK.L.ChapmanJ.E.KerrJ.2009. “Neighborhood Built Environment and Income: Examining Multiple Health Outcomes.” Social Science & Medicine68:1285–93.
46.
SchillerJ.S.LucasJ.W.WardB.W.PeregoyJ.A.2012. “Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: National Health Interview Survey, 2010: TABLE 31: Age-Adjusted Percent Distribution of Body Mass Index Among Persons Aged 18 Years and Over, by Selected Characteristics: United States, 2010.” Vital Health Statistics12 (252).
47.
SchulzA.J.KannanS.DvonchT.IsraelB.A.AllenA.JamesS.A.2005. “Social and Physical Environments and Disparities in Risk for Cardiovascular Disease: The Healthy Environments Partnership Conceptual Model.” Environmental Health Perspectives113 (12): 1817–25.
48.
SchulzA.MentzG.Johnson-LawrenceV.IsraelB.A.MaxP.ZenkS.N.WinemanJ.MaransR.W. (2013). “Independent and Joint Associations between Multiple Measures of the Built and Social Environment and Physical Activity in a Multi-Ethnic Urban Community.” Journal of Urban Health90 (5): 872–87.
49.
SchulzA.J.WilliamsD.R.IsraelB.A.LempertL.B.2002. “Racial and Spatial Relations as Fundamental Determinants of Health in Detroit.” Milbank Quarterly80 (4): 677–707.
50.
StokolsD.1992. “Establishing and Maintaining Healthy Environments: Toward a Social Ecology of Health Promotion.” American Psychologist47 (1): 6–22.
51.
SugrueT.J.1996. The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
52.
WenM.BrowningC.R.CagneyK.A.2007. “Neighborhood Deprivation, Social Capital and Regular Exercise during Adulthood: A Multilevel Study in Chicago.” Urban Studies44 (13): 2651–71.
53.
WilliamsD.R.CollinsC.2001. “Racial Segregation: A Fundamental Cause of Racial Disparities in Health.” Public Health Report1 (16): 404–16.
54.
XuF.LiJ.LiangY.WangZ.HongX.WareR.S.LeslieE.SugiyamaT.OwenN.2010. “Residential Density and Adolescent Overweight in a Rapidly Urbanising Region of Mainland China.” Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health64 (11): 1017–21.
