A new report from the Centers for Disease Control says that planning may play a significant role in reducing the obesity epidemic in the United States. The report, which compiles numerous research studies and recommendations of experts, provides additional scientific backing for the healthy design movement that has started to gain traction during recent years.
The report recommends 24 community strategies to prevent obesity, ranging from school lunch improvements, educational programs and breastfeeding support to mixed-use zoning and better pedestrian facilities.
The report makes nine recommendations related directly to land use planning:
• Improve geographic availability of supermarkets in underserved areas. The report does not speak specifically to zoning, but I learned while working on a story for an upcoming edition of Planning that zoning policies influence supermarket access. In Los Angeles, for example, city officials who want to encourage new neighborhood grocery stores in underserved neighborhoods have backed off some policies that essentially require giant stores with acres of parking – stores that are almost impossible to build in dense urban areas.
• Provide incentives to food retailers to locate in and/or offer healthier food beverage choices in underserved areas. Some of this is basic economic development assistance, such as grants for installing dairy and produce cases. Zoning for small food markets also plays a role.
• Improve access to outdoor recreational facilities. As you may guess, this involves building parks and community exercise facilities, and ensuring people may reach them.
• Enhance infrastructure supporting bicycling. Create bike lanes and shared-use paths, and establish bike routes on existing roads.
• Enhance infrastructure supporting walking. The report makes clear that providing sidewalks, walking trails and pedestrian crossings is not enough. The report also speaks to "street-scale urban design and land use interventions" such as improved street lighting, traffic calming and enhanced landscaping.
• Locate schools within easy walking distance of residential areas. In California, planners have limited influence on where school districts locate their facilities. But the report also states, "Among students living within 1 mile of school, the percentage of walkers fell from 90% to 31% between 1969 and 2001." The report attributes this startling decrease to the walking environment, specifically, single land uses, long blocks and incomplete sidewalks.
• Improve access to public transportation. People who ride transit often walk or bicycle to and from transit stops.
• Zone for mixed-use development. The report says succinctly, "Zoning laws restricting the mixing of residential and nonresidential uses and encouraging single-use development can be a barrier to physical activity." Gosh, who knew?
• Enhance traffic safety in areas where persons are or could be physically active. In other words, engineer streets to slow traffic in areas where you want to encourage walking, running and bicycling.
The report, "Recommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States," is available here from the CDC website.
– Paul Shigley
