Objective assessment of urban built environment related to physical activity — development, reliability and validity of the China Urban Built Environment Scan Tool (CUBEST)

Background: Some aspects of the neighborhood built environment may influence residents’ physical activity, which in turn, affects their health. This study aimed to develop an urban built environment evaluation tool and conduct necessary reliability and validity tests. Methods: A 41-item urban built environment scan tool was developed to objectively assess the neighborhood built environment features related to physical activity. Six neighborhoods in Hangzhou were selected from three types of administrative planning units. A pair of auditors independently assessed all of the 205 street segments at the same time. Half of the segments (n = 104) were audited twice by the same auditor after a two-week time interval. Inter-rater reliability was assessed by comparing the audits of paired observers, while intra-rater reliability was evaluated by comparing an auditor’s repeated assessments of the same segments. The construct validity was tested using factor analysis. Results: The inter-rater reliability for most items was above 0.8. The intra-rater reliability for most items was above 0.4, and was lower than corresponding inter-rater reliability. Six factors were extracted by factor analysis and the factor loading matrix showed good construct validity. Conclusions: The CUBEST is a reliable and valid instrument that can be used to assess the physical activity-related built environment in Hangzhou, and potentially other cities in China

Urban built environment analysis: evidence from a mobility survey in Madrid

Applications involving travel behavior from the perspective of land use are dating from the 1990s. Usually, four important components are distinguished: density, diversity and design (3D?s of Cervero and Kockelman) and accessibility (introduced by Geurs and van Wee). But there is not a general agreement on how to measure each of those 4 components. Density is used to be measured as population and employment densities, but others authors separate population density between residential and building densities. A lot of measures have been developed to estimate diversity: among others, a dissimilarity index to indicate the degree to which different land uses lie within one another?s surrounding, an entropy index to quantify the degree of balance across various land use types or proximities to commercial-retail uses. Design has been characterized by site design, and dwelling and street characteristics. Lastly, accessibility has become a frequently used concept, but its meaning on travel behavior field always refers to the ability ?to reach activities or locations by means of a travel mode?, measured as accessibility to jobs, to leisure activities, and others. Furthermore, the previous evidence is mainly based on US data or on north European countries. Therefore, this paper adds some new evidence from a Spanish perspective to the research debate. Through a Madrid smartphone-based survey, factor analysis is used to linearly combine variables into the 3D?s and accessibility dimensions of the built environment. At a first step for future investigations, land use variables will be treated to define accurately the previous 4 components

City Building and Public Health: Threats and Opportunities in China

Evidence suggests that the physical and functional aspects of the urban built environment may affect one’s health through physical activity and access to healthy food. Rapid economic growth and urbanization have significantly changed China’s urban built environment, which can have long-term effects on people’s lifestyle and health. To build healthier cities for China’s growing yet aging urban population, researchers should act now to develop robust evidence of the relationship between urban form and health behavior while policymakers need focus on timely decision-making with the limited evidence available

Designing Non-Depressive Urban Built Environment: Case Study of Damietta City, Egypt

Maintaining mental well-being in urban built environments with the help of technology in cities is a huge challenging trend, especially with the increasing number of people living in cities. Nowadays, urban life style has raised the risk of anxiety and mood disorders by 21% and 39% respectively. This paper aims at investigating the relationship between several attributes of the urban built environment with mental health and raising the issue of how mental health can be improved through urban design. Basically, mental health depends on human inner feelings and emotions reacting from surrounding environments. The study is based on analysing the individual experience of people and their lifestyle in several neighbourhoods of Damietta City, Egypt by using Hamilton Depression Scale as an instrument to evaluate the severity of depressive symptoms. The attributes of the built environment in those neighbourhoods are investigated using geographic information systems (GIS), on a sample of 445 individuals distributed in four different city areas. The socio-economic characteristics, built-up attributes and results from the depressive symptoms are analysed and compared in the four areas. A positive relationship has been detected between some attributes of the urban built environment and the severity of the depressive symptoms, emphasising the possibility of improving open public spaces and producing psychologically healthy cities

The visible city

open1noIn this article, I introduce the idea of “the visible city,” which foregrounds the central role played by the urban built environment in cities’ quest for recognition. In the visible city, the urban built environment becomes a medium of communication and a form of currency in its own right for the acquisition of symbolic capital. I specifically discuss two concepts that underpin my understanding of the visible city, namely distinction and aesthetics. Overall, I highlight the relationship between these two widely used concepts to ask questions about the relationship between visual-material communication and urban transformation.openAiello G.Aiello G

Implications of Traffic Mix on Pedestrian Roads Safety in Urban Built Environment

Context and background: Cities in developing world are experiencing rapid urbanization characterized by rapid population growth. Tanzania like many other most of urban areas face poor public transport which force city dwellers to use alternative transport including walking. With lack of pedestrian infrastructures like segregated walkways, roads accidents create a great challenge for pedestrian safety.Goal and Objectives:This paper attempts to explore the influence of mixed traffic on occurrence of pedestrian related roads accidents in urban built environments.Methodology:Analysis of road accidents statistics and interview of road users and road traffic police were done in order to generate the link between mixed traffic and roads accidents for pedestriansResults: The results indicates that, the majority of road accidents involve a pedestrian with other traffic such as vehicles, motorcycles, buses, Lorries but not pedestrians themselves. This paper concludes that most of the road’s accidents for the pedestrian are the result of conflict or collision with other road users. Road accident statistics indicate that most of the pedestrian road accidents involve cars and pedestrians at 26%, pedestrians and motorcycles at 39%, pedestrians and buses at 26%, pedestrians and bicycles at 4% and pedestrians and three-wheelers at 5.1%. This indicates that the existing traffic mix situation increases the danger of the pedestrian to be involved in road accidents. The paper also concludes that the violation of regulation by different roads users impacted the safety of pedestrian.

Property rights and the production of the urban built environment in Zambia

This study investigated the phenomenon whereby settlements with ostensibly similar socio- economic status exhibited significantly different physical outcomes, such as in the quality of houses, spatial arrangements and available services. The study investigated three related questions. Firstly, given the similarity in the levels of incomes, what is the relationship between property rights and physical development outcomes in low income settlements? Secondly, what are the underlying mechanisms and processes by which these physical developments are produced? Thirdly, what is the relationship between formal and informal institutions and organisations in the production of the built environment? Corresponding to these questions were three hypotheses. The first hypothesis was that, at any given level of average incomes, different strengths of property rights have differential effects on physical development outcomes. The second hypothesis was that different property rights are associated with different mechanisms and processes in the physical development process and thirdly that situations of extra-legal property rights require State mechanisms in the production of the built environment. Using a theoretical, conceptual and analytical framework provided by the new institutional economics, the study employed the comparative institutional analysis methodology to determine the influence of three types of property rights on the production of the built environment in Zambia. These rights were categorised as informal, semi-legal and legalised, and are to be found respectively in Mindolo North, Chipata and Ipusukilo, three settlements in Kitwe selected as case studies. Empirical data was collected using household surveys, focus group discussions, semi-structured interviews and observations. The study finds that stronger property rights are associated with better quality physical development outcomes. Furthermore, the study finds that different types of property rights are associated with different mechanisms and processes for the production of the built environment. Finally, the study finds that where property rights are extra- illegal or informal, successful development requires that there be facilitative interaction between formal institutions of the State at one hand, and informal institutions and organisations at the other

The Urban Built Environment and Mobility in Older Adults: A Comprehensive Review

Mobility restrictions in older adults are common and increase the likelihood of negative health outcomes and premature mortality. The effect of built environment on mobility in older populations, among whom environmental effects may be strongest, is the focus of a growing body of the literature. We reviewed recent research (1990–2010) that examined associations of objective measures of the built environment with mobility and disability in adults aged 60 years or older. Seventeen empirical articles were identified. The existing literature suggests that mobility is associated with higher street connectivity leading to shorter pedestrian distances, street and traffic conditions such as safety measures, and proximity to destinations such as retail establishments, parks, and green spaces. Existing research is limited by differences in exposure and outcome assessments and use of cross-sectional study designs. This research could lead to policy interventions that allow older adults to live more healthy and active lives in their communities

RivEr/Generation_LAB-Linking Resilience with Inclusiveness in the Urban-Built Environment of Rome

The impact of metropolization processes and climate change effects on natural and anthropic environments, together with energy waste, the excessive consumption of agricultural and natural soils and their progressive waterproofing and a reduction in vegetation cover, highlights the need for sustainable management of existing resources, in terms of equitable and ethical development, towards sustainable and inclusive communities able to adapt to the negative effects of emergency phenomena. This contribution presents the results of the activities conducted in the RivEr/Generation_LAB, a project organized by three CIVIS members (Sapienza University of Rome, Universitè libre de Bruxelles, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid) as a part of the CIVIS Project “RivEr/Generation_LAB. Linking resilience with inclusiveness in the urban built environment of Rome, Brussels, and Madrid”, financed by the Hub4 Cities, Territories & Mobilities’ Call for proposals 2021. The project proposes a methodology of intervention in the Flaminio district, in particular in the Olympic Village and its relationship with the Tiber River, in line with the Sustainable Develop ment Goals, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the New European Bauhaus, to establish new relationships between cities and the natural environment, favoring sustainable and inclusive public spaces

Urban built environment and depression: a multilevel analysis

Study objective: To assess the relations between characteristics of the neighbourhood internal and external built environment and past six month and lifetime depression. Design and setting: Depression and sociodemographic information were assessed in a cross sectional survey of residents of New York City (NYC). All respondents were geocoded to neighbourhood of residence. Data on the quality of the built environment in 59 NYC neighbourhoods were collected from the United Status census, the New York City housing and vacancy survey, and the fiscal 2002 New York City mayorâs management report. Main results: Among 1355 respondents, residence in neighbourhoods characterised by a poor quality built environment was associated with greater individual likelihood of past six month and lifetime depression in multilevel models adjusting for individual age, race/ethnicity, sex, and income and for neighbourhood level income. In adjusted models, persons living in neighbourhoods characterised by poorer features of the built environment were 29%â58% more likely to report past six month depression and 36%â64% more likely to report lifetime depression than respondents living in neighbourhoods characterised by better features of the built environment. Conclusions: Living in neighbourhoods characterised by a poor quality built environment is associated with a greater likelihood of depression. Future prospective work designed to assess potential mechanisms underlying these associations may guide public health and urban planning efforts aimed at improving population mental health.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40324/2/Galea_Urban Built Environment and Depression_2005.pd