Gallery: Five keys to a healthy city
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In Larry Frank’s time at Atlanta’s Georgia Institute of Technology, his expertise in city planning lodged him in the middle of research that quickly expanded to consider not only better transportation design but the relationship between human health and cities. The answers connected sprawl and cars to obesity and declared that neighbourhoods where people walked more often were home to healthier citizens.
"The animosity [from entrenched civic leaders] was really quite profound," said Prof. Frank, now at University of British Columbia. "I was proving their decisions were a disaster."
As cities work for change, the pace is still largely slow at senior levels of government. Ottawa in March put up some small dollars, $1.7-million over three years for three research studies, work that will hopefully lead to "improved community design, more active lifestyles, and increased access to healthy food choices," according to Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq.
Meanwhile, cities act.
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Sidewalks
Atlanta created the Livable Centers Initiative, which co-ordinates investments such as $100-million for “pedestrian facilities” - infrastructure as simple as wider sidewalks to encourage community and walking.
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Hard Numbers
Quantifying facts is key. The Regional Municipality of Waterloo used Prof. Frank’s walkability index to measure connections between homes and businesses and is using the results to help design broader bicycle and pedestrian networks.
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Beyond hot dogs
Toronto is looking at its antiquated street-vending rules, enticed by results in Vancouver, which in turn was inspired by cities such as Portland. Vancouver, led by City Hall, has seen a boom in food carts, everything from tacos and souvlakis to fried oysters and tuna melt sandwiches. The city also requires the carts to meet certain nutritional standards.
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Bicycling
Separated bike lanes work. Bicycle traffic on the new lane on Dunsmuir Street in Vancouver - which connects the city’s eastside to downtown- has grown 40 per cent to about 70,000 trips in August, 2011, compared with a year earlier.
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Smart Parks
It doesn’t have to be Stanley Park to be a well-loved and well-used. And simple green space isn’t enough. A good park, research shows, doesn’t have to be big, either. Proximity to people is a key, and parks have to have variety. The Trust for Public Land, a U.S. organization, points to the example of fitness equipment for adults built beside a playground for children, so kids can play as parents keep spry.
