405B: Mapping Sustainable Transportation and Community Design Indicators

October 05, 2016

4:35pm - 4:50pm

Student Ignite

To support evidence-based decision-making and meaningful public engagement, there is a significant need for objective methods to evaluate how community design and transportation planning decisions may impact the population health and well-being of communities. Therefore, this presentation unveils a new method for quantifying and visualizing Healthy Built Environment (HBE) indicators using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Open Data.
 
This presentation will begin with a brief literature review of recent research linking transportation and land use indicators to specific positive and harmful health impacts. Existing HBE indicator frameworks created by the BC Provincial Health Services Authority and Peel Region will also be reviewed and critiqued. Next, the new comprehensive Community Design Indicator (CDI) framework will be introduced. The CDI framework includes a total of 47 indicators, nested within 16 categories and five planning themes related to transportation and land use planning, housing diversity, and access to healthy food and greenspace. A special focus will be placed on active and sustainable transportation indicators that can be calculated using OpenStreetMap.com and General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) data. A case study will then be presented to summarize the work completed for a recent Masters Research Project (MRP) in the Ryerson University Urban Development Program.
 
This MRP calculated each of the 47 CDIs for 106 neighbourhoods in Metro Vancouver, Canada. Results were mapped and also statistically linked to a wide range physical, mental and social health measures obtained from the My Health My Community (MHMC). This survey of over 30,000 individuals was collected by Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health Authorities and was released in 2016. Based on this analysis, several CDIs were found to have moderate correlations with one or more health measures. In particular, there were many associations between CDIs and rates of utilitarian walking and levels of obesity. These results will be summarized in a single informational infographic that can be used to support evidence-based decision-making and meaningful community engagement.
 
This presentation will provide attendees with both background knowledge and practical tools that can inform future planning projects. Moreover, this session will help bridge the gap between health and planning professionals to work collaboratively in the process of creating more healthy and sustainable communities.

Speakers