The Research: Studies on Health and Sprawl
A catalog of studies on how community design and traffic affect health.
Below find a sample of the many studies documenting the connection between community design and health. For a full list of the sources for Cascadia Scorecard 2006, see the online version of the book with citations.
General studies
- Howard Frumkin, Lawrence Frank, and Richard Jackson, Urban Sprawl and Public Health (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2004).
- Lawerence Frank, Sarah Kavage, and Todd Litman, “Promoting Public Health Through Smart Growth,” Smart Growth BC.
- Barbara A. McCann, "Measuring the Effects of Sprawl: A National Analysis of Physical Activity, Obesity, and Chronic Disease," Smart Growth America, September 2003.
- R. Sturm and D.A. Cohen, “Suburban Sprawl and Physical and Mental Health,” Public Health, v. 118, pp. 488-496 (2004).
Sprawl, driving, and collision risk
- Reid Ewing, Richard A. Scheiber, and Charles V. Zegeer, "Urban Sprawl as a Risk Factor in Motor Vehicle Occupant and Pedestrian Fatalities,” American Journal of Public Health v.93, n.9, 2003, pp 1541-1545.
- Reid Ewing, Rolf Pendall, and Don Chen, “Measuring Sprawl and Its Impact,” Smart Growth America, 2002.
- Todd Litman and Steven Fitzroy, “Safe Travels: Evaluating Mobility Management Traffic Safety Impacts,” Victoria Transport Policy Institute, June 24, 2005.
- US Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 2001 National Household Travel Survey.
- Todd Litman, “Online TDM Encyclopedia: Evaluating Safety and Health Impacts,” Victoria Transport Policy Institute.
- Peter Lyndon Jacobsen, “Safety in Numbers: More Walkers and Bicyclists, Safer Walking and Bicycling,” Injury Prevention, v.9, n.1, 2003, pp.205-209.
OBESITY AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Health risks from obesity and physical inactivity
- US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, “Overweight and Obesity."
- Ronald Colman and Sally Walker, “The Cost of Physical Inactivity in British Columbia,” Genuine Progress Index Atlantic, November 2004.
- Scott R. Votey and Anne L. Peters, “Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2: A Review,” eMedicine, July 14, 2005.
- Katherine M. Flegal et al., “Excess Deaths Associated with Underweight, Overweight, and Obesity,” Journal of the American Medical Association, April 20, 2005, v.293, n.15, pp1861-1867.
- David B. Allison et al., “Annual Deaths Attributable to Obesity in the United States,” Journal of the American Medical Association, October 27, 1999, v.282, n.16, pp.1530-1538.
Obesity and lifespan
- Kevin R. Fontaine et al., “Years of Life Lost Due to Obesity,” Journal of the American Medical Association, January 8, 2003, v.289, n.2, pp.187-193.
- Ali H. Mokdad, “Actual Causes of Death in the United States, 2000,” Journal of the American Medical Association, March 10, 2004, v.291, n.10.
- Joann E Manson et al., “Body Weight and Mortality Among Women,” New England Journal of Medicine, September 14, 1995, v.333, n.11; pp.677-685.
- Eugenia E Calle et al., “Body-Mass Index and Mortality in a Prospective Cohort of U.S. Adults,” New England Journal of Medicine, October 7, 1999, v.341, n.15, pp.1097-1105.
- Frank B Hu et al., “Adiposity as Compared with Physical Activity in Predicting Mortality among Women,” New England Journal of Medicine, December 23, 2004, v.351, n.26, pp.2694-2703.
- S. Jay Olshansky et al., “A Potential Decline in Life Expectancy in the United States in the 21st Century,” New England Journal of Medicine, March 17, 2005, v.352, n.11, pp1138-1145.
- Edward W. Gregg et al., “Secular Trends in Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors According to Body Mass Index in US Adults,” Journal of the American Medical Association, April 20, 2005, v.293, n.15, pp.1868-1875.
- Barbara Boyle Torrey and Carl Haub, “Why Do Canadians Outlive Americans?” Population Reference Bureau, November 2004.
Costs of obesity and physical inactivity
- Eric A. Finkelstein et al., “State-Level Estimates of Annual Medical Expenditures Attributable to Obesity,” Obesity Research, January 2004, v.12, n.1, pp.18-24;
- Michael Pratt et al., “Higher Direct Medical Costs Associated with Physical Inactivity,” The Physician and Sportsmedicine, October 2000, v.28, n.10, pp.63-70;
- Chenoweth & Associates, Inc., "The Economic Cost of Physical Inactivity Among Washington State Adults," Washington Department of Health, February 2004.
- Active Living Leadership, “Quantifying the Cost of Physical Inactivity."
- Ronald Colman and Sally Walker, “The Cost of Physical Inactivity in British Columbia,” Genuine Progress Index Atlantic, November 2004.
Correlation between obesity and un-walkable neighborhoods
- Lawrence D. Frank et al, “Obesity Relationships with Community Design, Physical Activity, and Time Spent in Cars,” American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 2004, v.27, n.2, pp. 87-96.
- Brian E. Saelens, “Neighborhood-Based Differences in Physical Activity: An Environment Scale Evaluation,” American Journal of Public Health, September 2003, v.93, n.9.
- Lawrence D. Frank et al., “Linking Objectively Measured Physical Activity with Objectively Measured Urban Form: Findings from SMARTRAQ,” American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 2005, v.28, n.2S2.
- Billie Giles-Corti and Robert J. Donovan, “Relative Influences of Individual, Social Environmental, and Physical Environmental Correlates of Walking,” American Journal of Public Health, September 2003, v.93, n.9, pp. 1583-15.
- Lawrence D. Frank et al., “Many Pathways from Land Use to Health,” Journal of the American Planning Association, 2006, v. 72. n. 9, pp 75-87.
AIR QUALITY
Suburban air not necessarily cleaner than in city
- US Environmental Protection Agency, “AirData: Access to Air Pollution Data."
- Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, “Air Quality Reports."
- Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, “2004 Air Quality Data Summary,” July 2005.
- Michael Brauer, Jochen Brumm, and Stefanie Ebelt, “Evaluation of Ambient Air Pollution in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia: Public Health Impacts, Spatial Variability, and Temporal Patterns,” University of British Columbia, July 17, 2000.
Vehicle emissions and their health and economic costs
- Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, “Smog Watch."
- US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, “Emissions Facts: Average Annual Emissions and Fuel Consumption for Passenger Cars and Light Vehicles."
- Washington Department of Ecology, “2002 Criteria Air Pollutants Emissions."
- Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, “2004 Air Quality Data Summary Appendix,” July 2005.
- Kate Davies and Dietrich Hauge, “Economic Costs of Diseases and Disabilities Attributable to Environmental Contaminants in Washington State,” Collaborative for Health and Environment - Washington Research and Information Working Group, July 2005.
Air quality and traffic
- Scott A Fruin, Arthur M Winer, and Charles E. Rodes, “Black Carbon Concentrations in California Vehicles and Estimation of In-Vehicle Diesel Exhaust Particulate Matter Exposures,” Atmospheric Environment, August 2004, v.38, n.25, pp.4123-4133.
- Ryan Allen, et al., “Estimated Hourly Personal Exposures to Ambient and Nonambient Particulate Matter Among Sensitive Populations in Seattle,” Journal of Air and Waste Management, September 2004, v.54, n.9, pp.1197-1411.
- Simon Kingham et al., “Assessment of Exposure to Traffic-Related Fumes During the Journey to Work,” Transportation Research, July 1998, v.3, n.4, pp.271-274.
- Stuart A. Batterman, Chung-Yu Peng, and James Braun, “Levels and Composition of Volatile Organic Compounds on Commuting Routes in Detroit, Michigan,” Atmospheric Environment, December 2002, v.36, n.39-40, pp.6015-6030.
- Charles Rodes, Research Triangle Institute, “Measuring Concentrations of Selected Air Pollutants Inside California Vehicles,” California Air Resources Board (CARB), December 1998.
- Jette Rank et al., “Differences in Cyclists and Car Drivers Exposure to Air Pollution from Traffic in the City of Copenhagen," The Science of the Total Environment, 2001, v.279, pp.131-136.
In-car air pollution health effects
- Michael Riediker et al., “Particulate Matter Exposure in Cars is Associated with Cardiovascular Effects in Healthy Young Men,” American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, April 15, 2004, v.168, n.8, pp.934-940.
- International Center for Technology Assessment, “In-Car Air Pollution: The Hidden Threat to Automobile Drivers: Report No. 4, An Assessment of the Air Quality Inside Automobile Passenger Compartments,” July 2000.
- Michael Riediker et al., “Exposure to Particulate Matter, Volatile Organic Compounds, and Other Air Pollutants Inside Patrol Cars,” Environmental Science and Technology 2003, v.37, n.10, pp.2084-2093.
Share of air pollution generated from sprawling and compact densities
- Lawrence Frank and Company, Inc., “A Study of Land Use, Transportation, Air Quality, and Health (LUTAQH) in King County, WA: Executive Summary,” September 27, 2005.
- Lawrence Frank, Brian Stone Jr., and William Bachman, “Linking Land Use with Household Vehicle Emissions in the Central Puget Sound: Methodological Framework and Findings,” Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, May 2000, v.5, n.3, pp.173-96.
Community ties, social isolation, and health
- Howard Frumkin, Lawrence Frank, and Richard Jackson, Urban Sprawl and Public Health (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2004).
- T. E. Seeman, “Social Ties and Health: The Benefits of Social Integration,” Annals of Epidemiology, September 1996, v.6, n.5, pp.442-451.
- J. S. House et al., “Social Relationships and Health,” Science, July 29, 1988, v.241 n.4865, pp. 540-545.
- Ichiro Kawachi, “Social Capital and Community Effects on Population and Individual Health,” Annals of New York Academy of Sciences, 1999, v.896, pp. 120-130.
Isolation and risk of sickness and death
- J. P. Hirdes and WF Forbes, “The Importance of Social Relationships, Socioeconomic Status and Health Practices With Respect to Mortality Among Healthy Ontario Males,” Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, February 1992, v.45, n.2, pp.175-182.
- Gerry Veenstra, “Social Capital and Health (Plus Wealth, Income Inequality and Regional Health Governance),” Social Science and Medicine, March 2002, v.54, n.6, pp.849-868.
- Lisa F. Berkman, “The Role of Social Relations in Health Promotion,” Psychosomatic Medicine - Special Issue: Superhighways for Disease, May/June 1995, v.57, n.3, pp.245-254.
Decline of social capital in the United States
- Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000).
- Avery M. Guest and Susan K. Wierzbicki, “Social Ties at the Neighborhood Level: Two Decades of GSS Evidence,” Urban Affairs Review, September 1, 1999, v.35, n.1, pp. 92-111.
Sprawl and drive-alone commuting limits social interaction and reduces community
- Howard Frumkin, Lawrence Frank, and Richard Jackson, Urban Sprawl and Public Health (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2004).
- Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000).
- Washington Department of Transportation, “The Cost of Motor Vehicle Collisions to Society."
- Lance Freeman, “The Effects of Sprawl on Neighborhood Social Ties: An Explanatory Analysis,” Journal of the American Planning Association, Winter 2001, v.67, n.1, pp. 69-77.
- Avery M. Guest and Susan K. Wierzbicki, “Social Ties at the Neighborhood Level: Two Decades of GSS Evidence,” Urban Affairs Review, September 1, 1999, v.35, n.1, pp. 92-111.
Walking and compact communities boost social ties
- Hollie Lund, “Pedestrian Environments and Sense of Community,” Journal of Planning Education and Research, 2002, v.21, n.3, pp. 301-312.
- Kevin M. Leyden, “Social Capital and the Built Environment: The Importance of Walkable Neighborhoods,” American Journal of Public Health, September 2003, v.93, n.9, pp. 1546-1551.
- Howard Frumkin, Lawrence Frank, and Richard Jackson, Urban Sprawl and Public Health (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2004).
- Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000).
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