Physical daily active mobility in the city: Social-ecological determinants of walkability and public health

大多数人生活在城市，更多的人正在搬到城市环境中。然而，有相当多的证据表明，城市生活方式的优势也伴随着心理压力和精神障碍的更高患病率，导致缺乏活动和社会孤立。基于这一观察，持续的城市化要求城市设计纳入健康环境的观点，包括适合步行的社区。到目前为止，对这一主题的研究主要集中在空间规划和健康科学领域，重点是步行能力的概念和主动行动能力的个体预测因素。由于这一主题的跨学科交流有限，人们对影响因素的相互作用和人与环境的适合性知之甚少。到目前为止，还没有提出足够的措施来捕捉和评估城市居民区促进健康的财产和潜力。这项建议使用社会生态和跨学科研究框架，将空间规划和健康科学中的主要理论和方法联系起来。适合主动流动的人-环境的可操作性使用了植根于社会科学的生活方式概念，作为一种创新的方法新颖性。这些项目从宏观分析开始：研究领域将从对德国最大城市的存档空间数据的分析中挑选出来，探索生活方式和主动流动性之间的关系。评估工具将有助于确定特定社区促进体育活动的特征(“微型公共”)。此外，活动触发的评估反映了当前幸福感、社会互动和积极流动性之间的关系。焦点小组访谈将验证结果，并提供对适度活动流动性的生活方式因素的详细了解。将上述学科的方法论和理论方法联系起来，可能会为有关城市人口健康前景的知识带来新的见解和科学进步。创新之处在于有新的可能性来改善人与环境之间的关系，以适应一系列城市设计和规划目标。为此，项目成果可以对城市社区的健康潜力进行初步评估。所有研究部分的结果将被用来开发增强的步行测量概念。

Most people live in cities and more are moving into urban environments. However, there is considerable evidence that the advantages of urban lifestyles are also accompanied with a higher prevalence for psychological stress and disorders, resulting in inactivity and social isolation. Based on this observation, continued urbanisation requires that urban design incorporates perspectives of healthy environments, including walkable neighbourhoods. So far, research on this topic has largely been the domain of spatial planning and the health sciences, focusing on the concept of walkability and individual predictors of active mobility. As a consequence of limited interdisciplinary exchange on the topic, little is known about the interaction and person-environment fit of influencing factors. To date, no adequate measures have been presented that would capture and allow for an assessment of health-promoting properties and potentials of urban neighbourhoods. This proposal uses a socio-ecological and interdisciplinary research framework to connect prominent theoretical and methodological approaches in spatial planning and the health sciences. The operationalization of person-environment fit for active mobility uses the lifestyle concept rooted in social sciences as an innovative methodological novelty. The projects starts with a macro-analysis: research areas will be selected from an analysis of archived spatial data in the largest German cities, exploring the relationship between lifestyles and active mobility. An assessment tool will help to identify features of selected neighbourhoods that promote physical activity (“micro-publics”). In addition, activity-triggered assessments capture the relationship between current well-being, social interaction and active mobility. Focus group interviews will verify the results and deliver a detailed understanding of lifestyle factors that moderate active mobility. Connecting the methodological and theoretical approaches for the mentioned disciplines is likely to deliver new insights and scientific advancements for knowledge about the health perspectives of the urban population. The innovation lies in new possibilities to improve the person-environment fit for a range of urban design and planning objectives. To this end project results allow for an initial assessment of health potentials of urban neighbourhoods. The outcomes of all research parts will be used to develop enhanced walkability measurement concepts.