Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH
Volume 15, Issue 12, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph15122767
Keywords
built environment; urban health; urban form; walking; physical activity; health promotion
Funding
- FEDER through the Operational Program Competitiveness and Internationalization
- Foundation for Science and Technology-FCT (Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education) under the Unidade de Investigacao em Epidemiologia-Instituto de Saude Publica da Universidade do Porto (EPIUnit) [POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006862, UID/DTP/04750/2013]
- European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), through the Competitiveness and Internationalization Operational Program
- Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) [PTDC/GES-AMB/30193/2017 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030193), PTDC/GES-AMB/30193/2017 (02/SAICT/2017-30193)]
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The creation of walkable communities constitutes a cost-effective health promotion strategy, as walking is an accessible and free intervention for increasing physical activity and health. In this cross-sectional ecological study, we developed a walkability index for the Porto Metropolitan Area and we validated it by assessing its association with walking for transportation. Neighborhood walkability was measured using a geographic information system and resulted from the weighted sum of residential density, street connectivity, and a destination-based entropy index. The index was categorized into quintiles of increasing walkability. Among the 1,112,555 individuals living in the study area, 28.1% resided in neighborhoods in the upper quintile of walkability and 15.8% resided in the least walkable neighborhoods. Adjusted regression models revealed that individuals residing in the most walkable neighborhoods are 81% more likely to report walking for transportation, compared with those from the least walkable neighborhoods (odds ratio: 1.81; 95% confidence intervals: 1.76-1.87). These results suggest that community design strategies to improve walkability may promote walking behavior.
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