Built environment, non-motorized travel and overall physical activity

To increase overall psysical activity is seen as important health promoting strategy where characteristics of the built environment are found to play an important role. In this study, physically active lifestyle includes non-motorized travel and other physical activity apart from travel. Most earlier studies are limited to quantitative measurements of the built environment's influence on either non-motorized travel or other physical activity at a neighborhood level. They do not give any clear indication of how people's total amount of physical activity will vary with their intra-metropolitan residential location. The purpose of this study was to investigate to what extent and in what ways peoples' physical activities are influenced by the location and built environment characteristics of residential areas. Through a survey and 33 qualitative interviews conducted in two Norwegian city regions of different sizes and with distinct urban strutctures, Oslo and Stavanger, the study contributes with new knowledge about the link between built environment at a regional level and overall physical activity. The results show that non-travel-related physical activity among suburbanites seems to slightly outweigh higher levels of non-motorized travel among inner-city residents. The counteracting influences residential location and built environment characteristics seem to exert on physical activity may therefore lead to incorrect conclusions about the overall effect in studies only focusing on non-motorized travel. Improved accessibility by bike or foot in existing suburban areas and maintanance of inner-city green areas is important to enhance the overall level of physical activity.