The Active Friendly Environments Project – A partnership informing planning, policy & practice
Research techniques/data collection
The Active Friendly Environments study identifies the environmental, urban design, access barriers and motivators for getting people more regularly active. The aim of the study is to test people’s perceptions of how easy it is to access physical activity facilities and open space, and to understand their walking, cycling and public transport behaviours for local trips.
To collect the data and information, the research consisted of the five stages:
- Literature review
- Focus groups
- Population survey (computer-aided telephone interviews)
- Facilities audit
- GIS mapping and analysis.
This information examined both subjective (personal views about what activity options are out there) and objective (the facts) measures of the environment. By bringing the two measures together it was possible to identify differences between individual perceptions and the actual environment. It also assisted with understanding both the real and perceived barriers.
To achieve this, the study combined surveys of North Shore residents (asking what they think is out there) with audits of facilities and local environments (what is actually out there). It used a GIS database to map this information, utilising a range of existing GIS data sets and measures of walkability.
Findings and recommendations
Each of the different methods of data collection reported different findings. The report’s recommendations are as follows:
- An accessible and timely information channel would assist residents with engaging in more structured physical activity
- Perceptions of the transport infrastructure in North Shore City are generally negative. Further work needs to be undertaken to understand the current infrastructure in relation to best practice
- Information promoting sites should have strong local focus, but should also extend to the wider region
- Enhancing the aesthetics of the local environment will facilitate physical activity engagement
- Promotion of parks and beaches may be an effective strategy for increasing their usage and levels of health-related physical activity
- Future work should seek to develop interventions which promote transport-related physical activity modes, as there is a high level of recognition for transport-related physical activity engagement, yet the majority of respondents still travel by car
- High street connectivity is a key urban design feature in the promotion of physical activity engagement and needs to be considered in future neighbourhood developments
- Urban design planning should seek to limit commute distances and increase street network connectivity to promote transport-related physical activity engagement.
Updated | 11 Jul 2008.
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