What are the barriers?
What stops the development of activity-friendly environments?
The main barriers are:
- organisational - how organisations and agencies work together on such large-scale strategies
- social - social norms and perceptions.
Organisational barriers
- Lack of understanding of the benefits of activity-friendly environments and their potential links with increased physical activity and positive community outcomes
- Internal policies, procedures (district plans etc) and processes that are not flexible enough to allow quick response to proposed developments
- Conflicting objectives and competition for resourcing – both internal and external.
Social barriers
- Entrenched norms of behaviour - for example, driving rather than walking, reflecting perceptions of social status
- Pricing - it is often cheaper to take the unhealthy option
- Perceived personal safety - a new cycle lane is redundant if the individuals did not cycle in the first place because they felt vulnerable.
For more detail on the barriers, read the 'Barriers' chapter of the Activity-Friendly Environments resource. (See the 'Strategies and Interventions' section for the four core ways of overcoming these barriers.)
Updated | 22 Oct 2006.
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