Giles-corti, Billie; Moudon, Anne Vernez; Lowe, Melanie; Cerin, Ester; Boeing, Geoff; Frumkin, Howard; Salvo, Deborah; Foster, Sarah; Kleeman, Alexandra; Bekessy, Sarah; De Sa, Thiago Herick; Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark; Higgs, Carl; Hinckson, Erica; Adlakha, Deepti; Arundel, Jonathan; Liu, Shiqin; Oyeyemi, Adewale L.; Nitvimol, Kornsupha; Sallis, James F. (2022). What Next? Expanding Our View of City Planning and Global Health, and Implementing and Monitoring Evidence-informed Policy. Lancet Global Health, 10(6), E919-E926.
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Abstract
This Series on urban design, transport, and health aimed to facilitate development of a global system of health-related policy and spatial indicators to assess achievements and deficiencies in urban and transport policies and features. This final paper in the Series summarises key findings, considers what to do next, and outlines urgent key actions. Our study of 25 cities in 19 countries found that, despite many well intentioned policies, few cities had measurable standards and policy targets to achieve healthy and sustainable cities. Available standards and targets were often insufficient to promote health and wellbeing, and health-supportive urban design and transport features were often inadequate or inequitably distributed. City planning decisions affect human and planetary health and amplify city vulnerabilities, as the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted. Hence, we offer an expanded framework of pathways through which city planning affects health, incorporating 11 integrated urban system policies and 11 integrated urban and transport interventions addressing current and emerging issues. Our call to action recommends widespread uptake and further development of our methods and open-source tools to create upstream policy and spatial indicators to benchmark and track progress; unmask spatial inequities; inform interventions and investments; and accelerate transitions to net zero, healthy, and sustainable cities.
Chalana, Manish. (2012). Of Mills and Malls: The Future of Urban Industrial Heritage in Neoliberal Mumbai. Future Anterior: Journal Of Historic Preservation, History, Theory, And Criticism, 9(1), 1 – 15.
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Abstract
The mandate of historic preservation is to maintain vestiges of diverse cultural heritage, a task that is becoming increasingly difficult in rapidly globalizing India. Much of the country's urban heritage outside of the “monument-and-site” framework is threatened by massive restructuring of cities facilitated by neoliberal urban policies. Mumbai has a rich cultural heritage, associated with diverse sociocultural and economic groups. Much of this is threatened by development practices pursued by various forces with a particular vision of Mumbai as an emerging “global city.” In this work Chalana examines Girangaon, an early industrial district of Mumbai, currently being transformed by forces of domestic and global capital. He argues that Girangaon's urban industrial heritage is a significant piece of the city's development history, which future visions of a global metropolis should embrace. While the expansion of Mumbai's economy has benefited some avenues of preservation practice in Mumbai, in Girangaon its consequences have also been negative, as a working-class neighborhood is restructured into a hypermodern district for the elite. The current forms of preservation practice in the city have been insufficient in addressing the complexity around managing heritage in low-income neighborhoods. Girangaon, and Mumbai overall, reveal the many ways that economic, cultural, and political globalization can impact historic preservation practice.]
Chalana, Manish; Wiser, Jeana C. (2013). Integrating Preservation and Hazard Mitigation for Unreinforced Masonry Buildings in Seattle. APT Bulletin: The Journal Of Preservation Technology, 44(2 – 3), 43 – 51.
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The Mobility Innovation Center announced that Qing Shen, professor of Urban Design & Planning and an expert in transportation planning and policy, has received a $100,000 award to study commuting patterns and develop a model to understand the effect of telework and flexible scheduling. The project will build off the existing Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) survey for employers who are in the CTR program as required by state law in the central city portion of Seattle. In addition, a complementary…
Dylan Stevenson’s (Prairie Band Potawatomi descent) research examines how culture informs planning strategies and influences land relationships. More specifically, he investigates how tribal epistemologies structure notions of Indigenous futurities by centering Indigenous cultural values at the forefront of environmental stewardship and cultural preservation. He is currently working on a project researching how governments (Federal, State, and Tribal) embed cultural values in Water Resources Planning strategies, drawing from ethnographic research he conducted in the joint territory of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians and Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. His other research interests include ecological restoration, intangible cultural heritage, and food systems planning. Previously, Dylan has worked for public and quasi-public entities dealing with the implementation and compliance of local, state, and federal legislation in California and has forthcoming work analyzing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in planning programs.
Dylan earned his Ph.D. in the Department of City and Regional Planning at Cornell University. He earned his master’s degree in Planning with a concentration in Preservation and Design of the Built Environment from the University of Southern California, a bachelor’s degree in Linguistics with a minor in Native American Studies from the University of California—Davis, and an associate of arts degree in Liberal Arts from De Anza College.
The College of Built Environments launched a funding opportunity for those whose research has been affected by the ongoing pandemic. The Research Restart Fund, with awards up to $5,000, has awarded 4 grants in its first of two cycles. A grant was awarded to Real Estate faculty member Arthur Acolin, who is partnering with the City of Seattle’s Office of Planning and Community Development to understand barriers that homeowners, particularly those with lower incomes, face to building Accessory Dwelling Units…
Stewart, Orion. (2011). Findings from Research on Active Transportation to School and Implications for Safe Routes to School Programs. Journal Of Planning Literature, 26(2), 127 – 150.
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Abstract
This literature review identified common factors associated with active transportation to school (ATS). It used a conceptual framework of a child's commute mode to school to classify 480 variables from forty-two studies that were tested for association with ATS. Four factors most frequently influenced ATS: distance, income, traffic and crime fears, and parental attitudes and schedules. Regular ATS results in more physical activity but research is lacking on other outcomes. Safe Routes to School, a program designed to increase rates and safety of ATS, can use an understanding of these influences and outcomes to more effectively allocate its limited resources.
Keywords
Physical-activity Levels; Travel Mode; Urban Form; Environmental-factors; Elementary-schools; Weight Status; Walking; Children; Prevalence; Bus; Active Transportation To School; Safe Routes To School; Biking
Chalana, Manish; Sprague, Tyler S. (2013). Beyond Le Corbusier and the Modernist City: Reframing Chandigarh’s ‘World Heritage’ Legacy. Planning Perspectives, 28(2), 199 – 222.
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Abstract
The heritage of Chandigarh, India is a complex subject. While widely acknowledged by academic and professional communities worldwide as a significant work of modernist architecture and urban design, Chandigarh's specific temporal, geographical and cultural contexts complicate efforts to get the city inscribed on United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization's World Heritage List. This article outlines the persistent attempts by both local and international organizations to achieve this inscription, efforts that have not yet been successful. Relying on historical scholarship and fieldwork, the authors reassess the value of Chandigarh's heritage both in terms of historical significance and contemporary planning. By addressing the complexity and scope of the design and planning process, embracing the inhabitation and appropriation of the city, and fostering an appreciation of modern architecture, Chandigarh can develop a more localized understanding of heritage yet one that can be appreciated worldwide.
Keywords
World Heritage Sites; Historic Sites; Modern Architecture; Urban Planning; Architecture; Modern Movement (architecture); Preservation Of Historic Sites; Twentieth Century; Chandigarh (india); India; Chandigarh; Le Corbusier; Modern Heritage; Preservation Planning; Unesco; World Heritage List; Le Corbusier, 1887-1965
Duncan, Glen E.; Mills, Brianna; Strachan, Eric; Hurvitz, Philip; Huang, Ruizhu; Moudon, Anne Vernez; Turkheimer, Eric. (2014). Stepping Towards Causation in Studies of Neighborhood and Environmental Effects: How Twin Research Can Overcome Problems of Selection and Reverse Causation. Health & Place, 27, 106 – 111.
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Abstract
No causal evidence is available to translate associations between neighborhood characteristics and health outcomes into beneficial changes to built environments. Observed associations may be causal or result from uncontrolled confounds related to family upbringing. Twin designs can help neighborhood effects studies overcome selection and reverse causation problems in specifying causal mechanisms. Beyond quantifying genetic effects (i.e., heritability coefficients), we provide examples of innovative measures and analytic methods that use twins as quasi-experimental controls for confounding by environmental effects. We conclude that collaboration among investigators from multiple fields can move the field forward by designing studies that step toward causation. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved,
Keywords
Residential Location; Methylation; Gene; Interplay; Obesity; Causality; Environment Design; Lifestyle Risk Reduction; Social And Built Environments; Twin Studies
Drewnowski, Adam; Aggarwal, Anju; Tang, Wesley; Moudon, Anne Vernez. (2015). Residential Property Values Predict Prevalent Obesity but Do Not Predict 1-year Weight Change. Obesity, 23(3), 671 – 676.
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Abstract
ObjectiveLower socio economic status (SES) has been linked with higher obesity rates but not with weight gain. This study examined whether SES can predict short-term weight change. MethodsThe Seattle Obesity Study II was based on an observational cohort of 440 adults. Weights and heights were measured at baseline and at 1 year. Self-reported education and incomes were obtained by questionnaire. Home addresses were linked to tax parcel property values from the King County, Washington, tax assessor. Associations among SES variables, prevalent obesity, and 1-year weight change were examined using multivariable linear regressions. ResultsLow residential property values at the tax parcel level predicted prevalent obesity at baseline and at 1 year. Living in the top quartile of house prices reduced obesity risk by 80% at both time points. At 1 year, about 38% of the sample lost >1 kg body weight; 32% maintained ( 1 kg); and 30% gained >1 kg. In adjusted models, none of the baseline SES measures had any impact on 1-year weight change. ConclusionsSES variables, including tax parcel property values, predicted prevalent obesity but did not predict short-term weight change. These findings, based on longitudinal cohort data, suggest other mechanisms are involved in short-term weight change.
Keywords
Body-mass-index; Socioeconomic-status; United-states; Physical-activity; King County; Association; Health; Trends; Gain; Income