Identifying High and Low Walkable Neighbourhoods Using Multi-disciplinary Walkability Criteria

Neighbourhood features contributing to the walkability (pedestrian friendliness) of a neighbourhood are diverse and depend on both its physical and social attributes. Earlier work in the Cleaner, Greener, Leaner (CGL) Study identified differences in opinion between professional stakeholder groups (planners, designers, engineers, public representatives, and public health and advocacy professionals) on what constitutes a walkable environment [1]. This diversity has implications for neighbourhood design and planning policy. The findings of a multi-disciplinary focus group study were used to generate a list of walkability criteria to select areas for a population study. In this study twenty areas were shortlisted and grouped under four categories: high walkable deprived, high walkable not deprived, low walkable deprived and low walkable not deprived. This paper presents the process undertaken to identify the study sites. International walkability research has favoured macro-scale objective geographic information systems (GIS) information to identify study areas [2]. While these macro scale attributes are important for walkability, alone they were considered insufficient for site selection by the CGL team as street characteristics were not considered and the attributes had a bias towards transportation walking. Also, indications from the focus group participants were that walkability is perceptual and therefore some resulting criteria were subjective, for example ‘a pleasant atmosphere contextual to area characteristics’ and therefore difficult to measure objectively. The CGL site selection process presented a number of challenges including limitations with available GIS information, unrepresentative neighbourhood boundaries on GIS datasets, and only one deprived neighbourhood identified as high walkable by the focus group participants. An investigation of the role of high and low walkable environments on resident’s behaviours and health can be used to inform future planning, transport, public health and neighbourhood design policies

Walkable Neighborhoods: Linkages Between Place, Health, and Happiness in Younger and Older Adults

Problem, research strategy, and findings: We examined whether living in a walkable neighborhood influenced the happiness of younger and older city residents. The data for this study came from a comprehensive household population survey of 1,064 adults living in 16 neighborhoods in Dublin City (Ireland) and its suburbs. We used multigroup structural equation modeling to analyze the direct and indirect effects of walkability on happiness, mediated by health, trust, and satisfaction with neighborhood appearance. We found living in a walkable neighborhood was directly linked to the happiness of people aged 36 to 45 (p¼.001) and, to a lesser extent, those aged 18 to 35 (p¼.07). For older adults, we found that walkable places mattered for happiness indirectly. Such built environments enhanced the likelihood that residents felt more healthy and more trusting of others, and this in turn affected the happiness of older people living in walkable neighborhoods. Takeaway for practice: We found that the way neighborhoods are planned and maintained mattered for happiness, health, and trust. Our findings suggest that mixed-use neighborhood designs that enable residents to shop and socialize within walking distance to their homes have direct and indirect effects on happiness. We call for an ongoing dialogue and evaluation of the way our urban and suburban neighborhoods are planned, designed, and developed, so that people can live in walkable places that better enable health and wellbeing

Guided Discussion and Activities in English for Future Health Professionals: Relationships between Nursing and Community Design

Recent interest in community design has become evident in medical circles. Relationships between a community’s design, its function, and citizens’ health are an increasing concern for people who care about the quality of human life. Among these people, an influential group is health professionals. They can play a great part in how a community can be constructed or (re)designed to afford better living conditions in society. To develop a sense of the importance of involvement in community planning and clarify the health needs of citizens, and to rethink ideas about responsibilities of health professionals, medical education should provide classes, seminars, lectures and activities to give students chances to explore possibilities of direct involvement for creating a healthy community. At the Tottori University Faculty of Medicine, a seminar was held for 3rd-year nursing students and faculty members on community development and design as related to health. The main lecturer explained how trends in various diseases and increases in obesity in the United States are directly related to how communities are designed. Although the lecture was in English, translation into Japanese was provided with a question-and-answer period at the end. In preparation for the lecture, students were given two questions on the relationship between nursing and community design. As this lecture occurred at the end of the year, further study could not be done. This paper presents ideas for giving future health professionals opportunities to explore a new direction. Class activities are outlined with an emphasis on English language teaching and learning techniques

The case for the continued use of the genus name Mimulus for all monkeyflowers

The genus Mimulus is a well-studied group of plant species, which has for decades allowed researchers to address a wide array of fundamental questions in biology (Wu & al. 2008; Twyford & al. 2015). Linnaeus named the type species of Mimulus (ringens L.), while Darwin (1876) used Mimulus (luteus L.) to answer key research questions. The incredible phenotypic diversity of this group has made it the focus of ecological and evolutionary study since the mid-20th century, initiated by the influential work of Clausen, Keck, and Hiesey as well as their students and collaborators (Clausen & Hiesey 1958; Hiesey & al. 1971, Vickery 1952, 1978). Research has continued on this group of diverse taxa throughout the 20th and into the 21st century (Bradshaw & al. 1995; Schemske & Bradshaw 1999; Wu & al. 2008; Twyford & al. 2015; Yuan 2019), and Mimulus guttatus was one of the first non-model plants to be selected for full genome sequencing (Hellsten & al. 2013). Mimulus has played a key role in advancing our general understanding of the evolution of pollinator shifts (Bradshaw & Schemske 2003; Cooley & al. 2011; Byers & al. 2014), adaptation (Lowry & Willis 2010; Kooyers & al. 2015; Peterson & al. 2016; Ferris & Willis 2018; Troth & al. 2018), speciation (Ramsey & al. 2003; Wright & al. 2013; Sobel & Streisfeld 2015; Zuellig & Sweigart 2018), meiotic drive (Fishman & Saunders 2008), polyploidy (Vallejo-Marín 2012; Vallejo-Marín & al. 2015), range limits (Angert 2009; Sexton et al. 2011; Grossenbacher & al. 2014; Sheth & Angert 2014), circadian rhythms (Greenham & al. 2017), genetic recombination (Hellsten & al. 2013), mating systems (Fenster & Ritland 1994; Dudash & Carr 1998; Brandvain & al. 2014) and developmental biology (Moody & al. 1999; Baker & al. 2011, 2012; Yuan 2019). This combination of a rich history of study coupled with sustained modern research activity is unparalleled among angiosperms. Across many interested parties, the name Mimulus therefore takes on tremendous biological significance and is recognizable not only by botanists, but also by zoologists, horticulturalists, naturalists, and members of the biomedical community. Names associated with a taxonomic group of this prominence should have substantial inertia, and disruptive name changes should be avoided. As members of the Mimulus community, we advocate retaining the genus name Mimulus to describe all monkeyflowers. This is despite recent nomenclature changes that have led to a renaming of most monkeyflower species to other genera.Additional co-authors: Jannice Friedman, Dena L Grossenbacher, Liza M Holeski, Christopher T Ivey, Kathleen M Kay, Vanessa A Koelling, Nicholas J Kooyers, Courtney J Murren, Christopher D Muir, Thomas C Nelson, Megan L Peterson, Joshua R Puzey, Michael C Rotter, Jeffrey R Seemann, Jason P Sexton, Seema N Sheth, Matthew A Streisfeld, Andrea L Sweigart, Alex D Twyford, John H Willis, Kevin M Wright, Carrie A Wu, Yao-Wu Yua

Priority of activity-friendly community issues among key decision makers in Hawaii

The U.S. Community Guide to Preventive Services strongly recommends changes in urban design, land use and accessibility to increase physical activity. To achieve these goals, policy change is often needed. This study assessed attitudes of decision makers in Hawaii to determine if physical activity related issues are among their priorities. Methods: State and county officials (n =179) were mailed surveys. Respondents listed the three most important problems (openended) in Hawaii and rated the importance of 23 specified problems, of which six directly related to physical activity. Results: The survey was completed by 126 (70.4%) respondents. The most frequently mentioned categories for the open-ended questions were affordable housing, environment/sustainability, sprawl/ traffic/population growth, and healthcare. Among the closed-ended physical activity related items, increasing traffic was ranked highest (43.9%) and fourth overall. Less than 12% of decision makers rated other physical activity issues as important. Conclusions: Future work is needed to increase the visibility and importance of physical activity related issues among policymakers

Untangling what makes cities liveable: happiness in five cities

Why is living in the city more attractive in some places than in others? How can policymakers, urban planners and engineers work together to make cities better places to live for urban residents? One way to understand what makes a city liveable is to examine a key measure of quality of life: individual level happiness. Recent research suggests that happiness is not simply a function of individual factors such as health, wealth and social relations. Happiness is also influenced by where people live. City residents are happier if they feel connected to their cities and neighbourhoods and feel positively about the state of city services. Using a sample of over 5000 urban residents in five major cities, this paper builds on recent findings that indicate the happiness of city residents is affected by citizen perceptions of their city as a place to live and their evaluations of the essential services provided by government and non-profit organisations. Using structural equation modelling, the authors demonstrate that latent variables tapping these perceptions have both direct and indirect influences on self-perceptions of happiness in five major cities