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Built Environment

Overview

Inactivity and related health problems, such as obesity, are linked to the way in which our communities are designed. Research has shown that certain aspects of community design can encourage physical activity in our daily routines. Public health experts have begun working with city planners and environmental engineers to build community spaces that are safe and accessible and that promote activity by all individuals – the young, old, and disabled.

Built environment features that encourage activity include:

Recreational resources, such as walking trails, bicycling trails, parks and open spaces.
Land use characteristics, such as the density of residential and employment areas, the land use mix, and the number and proximity of stores, businesses, or workplaces.
Neighborhood characteristics, such as sidewalks and streetlights.
Common environment characteristics, such as community support, neighborhood activity, low crime, reduced traffic, and aesthetics.

Many communities have changed zoning and building codes to encourage mixed use development, and have passed legislation, such as recreational statutes and joint use statutes, to create safer places that encourage activity. Recreational use statutes are laws that encourage private property owners to open up their lands to the public for recreational use either free of charge or for a nominal fee. All states have some form of recreational use statute. Under a recreational use statute, landowners are protected from legal liability for accidents that may occur to people using their land for recreational purposes, although landowners are still liable for intentional injuries and gross negligence.

Another legislative tool used in built environment policies is a joint use agreement, a formal agreement between two separate government entities that sets forth the terms and conditions for shared use of public properties or facilities. States and school districts often use joint use agreements because most school districts close schools when they are not in session; a joint use agreement enables community groups to use otherwise empty buildings and playgrounds for recreational uses.

Active living proponents, including public health and legal practitioners, develop land use, built environment, and transportation policies to enhance neighborhoods, improve residential conditions, and provide recreational opportunities for large numbers of people. Studies show that health disparities, such as the high rates of obesity among lower income and diverse populations, are linked to poor diet and lack of physical activity. As a result, public health advocates are also collaborating with community leaders to improve access to healthy affordable foods and to address neighborhood barriers to recreational activity, such as deteriorating playgrounds and unsafe parks, pedestrian walkways, and community facilities.

As with all public health initiatives, the overall goal in built environment planning and design is to protect and promote health. Evidence suggests that access to recreation facilities, safe open spaces, and pedestrian-friendly (“walkable”) land, combined with health promotion activities and social support, can result in a healthier, more active population.

Select Resources

Prevention Institute and Berkeley Media Studies Group, Joint Use and Health (2009).
National Association of Counties, Planning and Land Use Solutions to Create Active, Healthy Counties (2009).
Lawrence D. Brown & M. Katherine Kraft, Active Living as an Institutional Challenge: Lessons from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s “Celebrate Fitness” Program, 33 J. Health Pol. Pol’y & L. 497 (June 2008) (analyzing the institutional challenges faced by health promotion strategies in disadvantaged communities).
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Built Environment and Physical Activity: What is the Relationship? (2007).
National Agricultural Law Center. Compilation of recreational use statutes for all fifty states.
National Policy & Legal Analysis Network website. This site includes several useful legal and policy resources and tools related to land use and built environment, including:

Select Research

Larrisa Roux et al., Cost Effectiveness of Community-Based Physical Activity Interventions, 35 Am. J. Prev. Med. 578 (2008) (investigating the cost-effectiveness of population wide promotions of physical activity as well as the effectiveness that such promotion has on the incidence of chronic diseases).
California Center for Public Health Advocacy, Policy Link & UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, Designed for Disease: The Link Between Local Food Environments & Obesity & Diabetes (April 2008) (finding a significant link between the retail food environment and the prevalence of diabetes and obesity and outlining policies that provide retail incentives, zoning, and other measures to promote the increase in community markets that sell healthy foods).
Robert Cervero, Models for Change: Lessons for Creating Active Living Communities, Active Living Research, Planning Magazine A-1 (2007).