Sidewalks Lead to Healthier Living

Neighbourhoods with Paths and Parks Encourage People to Exercise

May 5, 2009

People who live in pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods are twice as likely to get enough regular exercise as people who have no choice but to drive everywhere.

That’s the conclusion from a study from the San Diego State University, which shows that access to sidewalks is the most important factor for people's ability to have regular physical activity.

The researchers looked at data from 11,541 survey participants in 11 countries, including the US, Lithuania, Brazil, Sweden and Japan.

People got sufficient exercise if they reported doing moderate-to-vigorous activity for 30 minutes a day, for at least five days a week.

“Our study had a great deal of variation in neighbourhoods,” said lead author Dr James Sallis, Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University. “We found that amenities were strongly related to exercise levels, even in this group of culturally very diverse countries.”

Good sidewalks encouraged more exercise, he said, possibly because people use them for jogging and in-line skating as well as for transportation.

He suggested incorporating sidewalks into existing neighbourhoods would be a practical and inexpensive way of encouraging people to exercise, and designing neighbourhoods to support a cluster of physical activities should be a public health priority around the world.

Sidewalks in all Australian Suburbs

Australian urban planning expert, Dr Glen Searle,Planning Program Director at the School of the Built Environment, University of Technology, Sydney, commented that sidewalks (footpaths) are a standard inclusion in any new precinct development in Australia.

“Developers are required to provide these, or the equivalent, such as lawns between the front boundary of houses and the street in all developments,” he said.

Where lawns are put in instead of normal paths, he noted that walking might be inhibited. “That usually applies in the higher income, low density new suburbs that rely heavily on the car.

“Recent planning philosophy is promoting more connected street patterns rather than cul-de-sacs, which will also encourage more walking.”

Amenities More Than Just Sidewalks

Encouraging people to exercise more in their daily life doesn’t just depend on good footpaths.

Compared to neighbourhoods with no activity-friendly amenities or designed for cars, Dr Sallis’ study showed people had a 15-50% higher chance of getting enough exercise if they had access to sidewalks.

Activity-friendly locales have good sidewalks, and they also have parks, local shops, mass transit stops, bike paths or designated bike areas and other low cost recreational facilities.

The exercise rate rose steadily with each amenity and reached 100% when all six were available, Dr Sallis said.

“These all contribute to making the walking experience more pleasant,” said Dr Searle, citing the Sydney innercity suburb of Newtown as an example.

Newtown retains a long shopping strip dating from the 1870s, good public transport and several parks.

“Shops in a main street like Newtown's really promote walking because the streetscape is lively and interesting and attracts more people, contributing to safety and making it a more sociable experience,” he said.

Other amenities such as seats or benches in appropriate positions, shade trees, verandas and awnings, attractive barriers between footpaths and high traffic areas, such as low hedges in Japan, all contribute to making walking more appealing.

More Uses Within Walking Distance

Newtown’s parks encourage people to take their children and dogs to run and play, and older people to walk there to relax.

“One principle is that as many compatible uses should be placed near each other as possible - parks, shops, schools etc. - so that they can all be reached in one walking trip,” Dr Searle stressed.

The paper, ‘Neighborhood environments and physical activity among adults in 11 countries’ will be published in the June 2009 edition of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The copyright of the article Sidewalks Lead to Healthier Living in Fitness is owned by Sue Cartledge. Permission to republish Sidewalks Lead to Healthier Living in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.