Do children walk where they bike? Exploring built environment correlates of children's walking and bicycling

Abstract

Previous studies examined environmental correlates of children's physical activity. While most of these studies used aggregated physical activity measures (i.e., overall physical activity, active travel), little is known about the contribution of specific environmental attributes to specific types of physical activity. This study examined associations between GIS-based environmental measures and children's selfreported walking and bicycling. The study area included "traditional neighborhoods" (N=4), characterized by high-density, land-use mix and grid-street network, and "suburban neighborhoods" (N=3), characterized by low-density, land-use segregation, and cul-de-sac streets. Data on children's physical activity and psychosocial and socio-demographic factors were obtained through a school survey (of fifth and sixth graders) (N=573). Urban-form measures (intersection density, residential density, and built coverage) were significantly positively associated with walking and negatively associated with bicycling. These associations remained significant after controlling for social, intra-and inter-personal factors. These findings suggest that certain environments may encourage children's walking and hinder their bicycling at the same time (and vice versa) and therefore raise the need for a more clear distinction between child-related walkability and bikeablilty.

Built environment determinants of bicycle volume: A longitudinal analysis

“…A longer trip distance is associated with a greater generalized travel cost resulting from increased travel time (Heinen et al, 2010). Trip distance correlates with city sizes and a number of functional built environment factors, such as density, mixed land use, road connectivity, block size, and destination accessibility (Heinen et al, 2010;Krizek, El-Geneidy, & Thompson, 2007;Moran, Plaut, & Epel, 2015;Muhs & Clifton, 2016;Saelens, Sallis, & Frank, 2003;Van Acker, Derudder, & Witlox, 2013) . A compact urban environment-higher density, greater mixed land use, better road connectivity, denser blocks, and closer proximity to destination-can help reduce trip distance, which is more suitable for non-motorized transportation modes (Heinen et al, 2010;Moudon et al, 2005;Saelens et al, 2003).…”

Getting to Know a Place: Built Environment Walkability and Children’s Spatial Representation of Their Home-School (h–s) Route

“…Sense of security was also examined among children in our study area in the aforementioned previous study [48], showing that most of the children aged 10–12 (76%) feel safe walking alone during daytime and 28% feel safe walking alone at night. No difference in children’s sense of security were observed between the two neighborhood types [51].…”

On the Applicability of a Western Bikeability Index in the Chinese Context

“…In fact, only a few of these studies have focused on cycling as a specific practice. An increasing literature addresses the limitations of the active transportation approach and calls for a clear distinction between walkability and bikeablilty measurements (Muhs & Clifton, 2015;Moran, Plaut, & Baron Epel, 2015).…”