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Abstracts
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Image: Josef Nalevansky Copyright: City of Sydney
Walk21 Abstracts Table of contents Wednesday 22nd October Concurrent presentations 11:00am – 12:30pm
Page
Global city strategies
2
Walking health forward
2-4
Placemaking II: The public’s domain
4-6
The walking customer
6-7
Measuring the benefits of walking for the next generation
8-9
Walking and cycling: Friends or foes
10-11
Walkshops
11-13
Concurrent presentations 1:30pm – 3:00pm
The Pecha Kucha challenge
13-16
Active body, active brain
16-17
Healthy Planning: Making connections from evidence to practice
17-19
Think, plan, walk: Three thoughtful case studies
19-21
Digital Directions
21-22
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Wednesday 22nd October 1100 - 1230
CONCURRENT PRESENTATIONS
GLOBAL CITY STRATEGIES
Crystal Ballroom
Vancouver, the walker and the street - three years on Sandy James In 2011 the Metropolitan region of Vancouver hosted the Walk21 conference in concert with the local municipalities, the two universities, the local transit authority and the regional district. The conference was very well attended, and attracted much media attention. Three years later, what walking policy and aspects have changed for Metro Vancouver? What policies have been impacted and affected by the Walk21 Conference? What is the current report card on walkability, policy, and making walking safe, comfortable and more convenient? Has Walking Stepped Up? This presentation will: - Describe the location of Metro Vancouver and the constraints to development and movement, which are very similar to Sydney; - Describe the policy development, principles, plans and projects that have been undertaken by the surrounding municipalities post Walk21 conference; - Outline the best practices and principles that have been undertaken, including the closure of Point Grey Road Vancouver, the implementation of the walkability plan by the City of Surrey, the development of the Healthy Built Environment Toolkit by the Province of British Columbia; - Provide examples of enhanced walkability in concert with new policies, innovative public art placement to enhance walkability, and transportation modal design in new development to encourage walking. - Describe where work still needs to be done, and next steps for a future report card. Attendees will take away a contact list and email addresses for projects and municipalities mentioned in this presentation. How the City of Melbourne Walking Plan 2014-17 will help develop the walking city Damon Rao, Richard Smithers Walkability is one of Melbourne’s key assets. If walking connectivity in the CBD grid was increased by 10 per cent, the value of the economy of the Melbourne CBD would increase by $2.1 billion per year. The economic benefits of people being able to easily access other people, services and jobs pay dividends for the city. The City of Melbourne’s draft Walking Plan sets out actions to support Melbourne’s walkability. The actions help accommodate the growth in walking, address crowding and delay on footpaths and ensure the walking network is well-connected, accessible, safe, comfortable, convenient and attractive. The plan has been developed to support walking as a legitimate transport mode. One aspect is to recognise the importance of walking in decisions on street management and operation. The plan also outlines actions relating to the Melbourne Planning Scheme as well as capital works projects. Key government partners and stakeholders have been engaged throughout the development of the plan in order to ensure that it can be implemented in a real and coordinated way along with other changes in the city, particularly in relation to public transport improvements. A foundation of the economic case for the plan has been the development of the pedestrian network in GIS and current and future accessibility scenario modelling. WALKING HEALTH FORWARD
Ted Hopkins Room
Walking healthcare forward in the 21st Century Robert Sallis It is very well documented that physical activity (PA) is a key preventive behaviour and that walking is among the most common forms of exercise. In addition, visits to a physician provide an important opportunity for PA advice and counselling. 2
Aim: The aim of this presentation is to describe a unique and innovative effort to increase awareness of and engagement in walking behaviour in the United States (US) by encouraging healthcare provider-patient conversations and walking prescriptions. Methods: In 2013, a highly successful Walking Summit was followed by the formalization of a collaborative group to campaign for increased walking behaviour. The American College of Sports Medicine (the world’s largest sports medicine and exercise science organization), in collaboration with Kaiser Permanente (the largest managed care provider in the US) and 100+ additional partners have united to implement a national vision for action to increase walking behaviour via the Every Body Walk! initiative. Results: The results of this collaboration have been the development of a toolkit, with resources for physicians and allied health professionals, to help them talk to their patients about walking at every clinic visit and resources to assist physicians and clinicians in writing walking prescriptions. Conclusion: This innovative program has the potential to significantly affect walking behaviour in the US. By including PA in the discussion at every patient visit and through the distribution of the toolkit via alliances with major medical professional associations, exercise can become a consistent and important part of treatment paradigm for patients and hopefully lead to increases in walking behaviour. Strategies for advancing transportation and health Lauren Marchetti This presentation aims to highlight a variety of approaches that were successfully used by the U.S. Federal Safe Routes to School Program for integrating transportation and health that offer broad application. Safe transportation and the health benefits of active travel were at the core of the Federal Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Program. The Federal transportation legislation Safe Affordable Flexible Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), passed in August 2005, established the national SRTS program to support projects to improve safety for walking and bicycling routes to school and to encourage children and families to travel to and from school using these modes. The SRTS Program that SAFETEA-LU established – while small compared to other transportation programs – had resources to use innovative approaches to advance health and transportation goals and to establish a system that encouraged using data to inform decision-making at the local, state, and national levels. This presentation reflects the approaches that the SRTS Program has used to advance transportation and health. It documents what was examined by the National Center for Safe Routes to School (National Center), which serves as the clearinghouse for the U.S. Federal SRTS Program, combined with input from State SRTS Coordinators and participants in the SRTS Roundtable on Transportation and Health, convened by the National Center in March 2013. Nine specific strategies were identified. Lessons learned from the SRTS program could be useful to other agencies, both government and private, that are working to address how we travel in ways that are health promoting. State, regional, and local organizations may also find these recommendations worthy of consideration. Planning for pedestrians with vision impairment - into the mainstream Duane Burtt, Marcus Bleechmore This presentation will outline the poorly understood issues facing pedestrians with vision impairment and explore how their needs can be reconciled and incorporated into pedestrian planning more generally. The project Road Safety for Pedestrians Who are Blind or Have Low Vision, is being undertaken by Vision Australia, in conjunction with Guide Dogs Victoria and Victoria Walks. The project implements a pilot pedestrian safety program for people who are blind or have low vision in targeted areas of Victoria, Australia. It also broadens understanding of walkability and safety for pedestrians with vision impairment. Providing for vision impaired pedestrians has traditionally involved retrofitting the existing environment with navigational aids such as tactile ground surface indicators and audio tactile facilities. This project looks beyond traditional approaches, to the broader road design that needs to be considered if a genuinely safe environment is to be created. 3
Central to this ground breaking project is the development of a comprehensive but accessible walkability audit tool, assessing the safety and convenience of road environments for pedestrians with vision impairment. This could be utilised or adapted across a wide variety of Australian or international jurisdictions. Other project components include: a) Findings of a survey of over 600 pedestrians with vision impairment, to understand their decision making and experience of the road environment b) Walkability audits of five targeted suburban areas of Melbourne and Geelong, where visually impaired pedestrians are most active, using the audit tool c) Production and dissemination of road safety communication materials d) Survey of pedestrians with vision impairment that use the targeted sites. Results from the initial survey, with a representative sample of all Australians with vision impairment, include: 7.9% reported being involved in a collision in the last five years, while 19.5% reported being involved in a near collision 24.1% of collisions and near collisions were with bicycles, while 29.2% of collisions occurred on the footpath Confidence crossing the road is generally low, except at traffic lights. Conclusions include: Pedestrians with vision impairment have different design requirements to the general population. Signals provide the best service to vision impaired pedestrians, but may not be financially viable or optimal for other road users. Standard pedestrian enhancements such as kerb extensions/outstands and raised medians may be of some benefit to vision impaired pedestrians, but will not necessarily create a ‘safe’ crossing point. For non-signalised crossings, to provide a good level of service to vision impaired pedestrians, design should ensure traffic is slowed and motorists are given a clear design signal that they need to give way. Raised pedestrian crossings are an example of an optimal solution for both vision impaired pedestrians and the general walking population.
PLACEMAKING II: THE PUBLIC'S DOMAIN
Sonar Room
Bondi Junction Complete Streets Stephen Moore How do you solve the problem of a contested centre that has more pedestrians at lunch than Circular Quay and a higher residential density than Potts Point, but has failed to evolve into a place people love? By marrying design, engineering, place-making and engagement into a hybrid urban professional where st understanding the ‘complete story’ facilitates the transformation of a vehicle-orientated centre into a 21 century walkable place. Beginning with a global overview of the ‘complete streets’ phenomenon and its role in shifting modal choice, RD Principal Stephen Moore will explain how this approach took a conventional traffic study at risk of becoming “just another shelf document”, to a visionary yet pragmatic project supported by the NSW Government, adopted by Council and now being implemented. In particular, the presentation will focus on the strategic role of ‘quick-win’ place-making initiatives and their transformative role for the place and stakeholders engagement with the process. Amongst other insights, Stephen will share how post-occupancy surveys provided Council with evidence that dispels current misconceptions about how cities work. In closing the discussion, Stephen will provide a practical framework for understanding how a complete street project could benefit your city or town.
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Improvement of usability of public space in the City of Vienna as an important contribution for a liveable city Bernhard Engleder Keywords of the presentation: Improving the quality for pedestrians in public space and recovering urban space for walking within the framework of commercial control over parking. Public space (e.g. new pedestrian zones, shared space, new design of public space and its surface) becomes more important for daily city live Important tools for realizing the targets, mentioned above: o social environment analysis before starting planning o integration and cooperation of/with the citizens o special advice and guidance system for pedestrians on new walking routes in Vienna Parking restrictions and reduction of motorized individual traffic as necessary requirements for more walking areas walking comprises all social classes of the civil society (barrier-free accessibility of public space, social inclusion) criteria for more quality of public space: o areas for resting and communicating o recreation zones with urban green / shading o possibilities for “playing along the way” for children o optimizing street lighting Pedestrian Priority Streets in Seoul: Enhancing Walkability in Built-up Neighbourhoods Sunghoon Oh To many visitors’ impression, Seoul seems to be covered with skyscraping apartment complexes. The former dominant type of built-up residential area, with low-rise single- and multi-family houses, has been rapidly replaced by those complexes. As a result, the city lost diversity at the neighbourhood level, and is suffering from the shortage of affordable housing stock. Now we are facing a challenge to preserve the remaining parts of the city, to nurture them as healthy and sustainable neighbourhoods, and to ensure their compatibility with apartment complexes. Inside a typical built-up residential area, streets are very narrow, usually around 10m or less in total width, tightly lined with buildings on both sides. As they lack the proper space for sidewalks, pedestrians are forced to ‘share’ the space with cars, enduring unfair conditions concerning the right of way and safety. Residents need direct car access to their doorsteps and nearby parking spaces. It is difficult to accommodate such demands, without conflicts with pedestrians. For many years, the government, professionals, and residents have been seeking for innovative ways to solve this problem. In 2012, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport amended the regulation on urban planning facilities, inserting articles defining the Pedestrian Priority Streets (PPS). This was to establish PPS as an element of the urban road system, so that its designation and management could be supported by legal basis. By ensuring more safe and comfortable walking for all members of the community, PPS encourages pedestrian movement and activities all over the street. Its design guideline recommended various measures to minimize the negative effects of car traffic resulting from excessive speed, improper parking, and drivers’ reckless behaviors. Another important point is to avoid the continuous barrier separating the central part of the road from its shoulders. In January 2013, the Mayor of Seoul announced the official launch of ‘Pedestrian Friendly City Seoul Vision’. Along with 10 initiatives to improve pedestrian environment throughout the city, the first pilot project for PPS was suggested to redesign narrow, mixed, and car-oriented residential streets. 2 selected streets are both commercial corridors within the neighbourhoods with small retail shops for commodities. However, they differ from each other in their physical composition, intensity of use, and the degree of intervention. Our presentation is based on the before and after monitoring data to examine the effect of PPS pilot projects. 5
We installed 14 cameras for each street, covering major nodes and links. From the recordings, we estimated traffic and pedestrian volume by types and by the time of day, traffic speed, on-street parking, pedestrian crossing points, pedestrian-traffic conflicts, and other street activities. Focusing on the behavioral changes, we’d like to indicate how the change in the street design influence the way people move around and make use of street as a public space. As a result, we’d like to verify the effectiveness of PPS to compromise trafficpedestrian conflicts within the neighbourhoods, demonstrate its potential as a placemaking strategy, and bring out lessons for pedestrian policy and design improvements.
THE WALKING CUSTOMER
Big Top Foyer Two
The Walking Customer Value Proposition Stephen Scholtz and Helen Johnson In order to inform efforts to encourage more people to walk more often/further and for different purposes in urban and regional NSW centres, Transport for NSW undertook primary research with customers. Areas of inquiry included influences on current walking behaviour; drivers and barriers related to walking in NSW and; importance and satisfaction levels associated with attributes of the walking journey experience. The research itself employed a three-stage process in the following order: a focused review of existing relevant domestic and international research, qualitative research utilising focus groups and in-depth interviews, quantitative research through an online survey of over 1,200 customers. The key drivers identified as contributing to getting more people walking more often/further in NSW were connectivity, safety and security, health and well-being and supporting facilities. The key barriers identified by customers were distance, terrain, time, lack of safety, motivation and fitness, multipurpose trips and habit. These and other findings, some of which will be covered in this presentation session, have been used to create specific strategic interventions proposed in the NSW State Government’s new plan for walking: Sydney’s Walking Future (NSW Government, 2013). Key words: Walking; Customer Value Proposition; CVP; insight; travel behaviour change; behaviour change; walking infrastructure; connectivity; flow; pedestrian safety; personal security; health; well-being; supporting facilities; Transport Access Program; Pedestrian Safety Action Plan. Super Sydney: Walking towards a metropolitan consciousness Timothy Williams, Cristina Garduño Freeman Super Sydney is a voluntary community project that invites people to share their thoughts and ideas about the future of their city. Using innovative forms of participation – conversations, imaginings, and this year walking, Super Sydney seeks to value individual stories and ideas about the city. The group, which is a committee of the NSW Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects, aims to enable Sydneysiders to build a metropolitan civic spirit through collaboration, sharing and creativity. Participation with the built environment has traditionally taken the form of community consultation. Super Sydney is different. Instead of consultation in specific projects or precincts, Super Sydney runs creative participatory projects that explore people’s visions for the city. In 2012 video conversations with individuals from every council area revealed people’s dreams for Sydney were strongly centered on public places that had access to landscape, water and open space. In 2013 Sydneysiders contributed postcards with their ideas for transforming Sydney, inspired by the Sydney Opera House. Interestingly many ideas were not for a new icon for the city, but about transforming Sydney through its walkability and connectivity. This year, 2014, Super Sydney is exploring how walking can be a way to transform the city. We have begun this process by developing a walk in May as part of ‘Sleepers Awake’ by Heather and Ivan Morison, a temporary installation in Bungarribee and developing a high school curriculum activity titled Walking within Distance. We are also running a pilot research project called CmyView which investigates how mobile technologies, such as apps, can facilitate new ways to share, understand and experience the connections that people have with places. Focused on everyday kinds of participation, such as photography and walking, CmyView hopes to can capture people’s unique views about the places they visit and inhabit. After 6
successful crowdfunding earlier this year we are running CmyView, City Souvenirs and architectural photography walkshops as part of the Sydney Architecture Festival in November 2014. Super Sydney’s long-term goal is to create a Walking Atlas of Sydney. Such an at last could be a way to share and develop walks that join the five regions of Sydney, explore Sydney’s biodiversity through streets and green corridors, connect market gardens, discover sumptuous cannoli in the suburbs, or visit all the blue houses in Ashfield. Walking the city is a socio-spatial way to experience place that is a way for people to connect, converse and come together to determine the future of their city. Boulder Walks Program Marni Ratzel In 2013, the City of Boulder Colorado launched the Boulder Walks program as part of a Living Laboratory approach to introduce innovations to encourage and enable more walking trips. Boulder Walks is a community engagement as well as a planning and evaluation tool that allows all stakeholders to share their perspectives and become more aware of design elements that help or hinder walking. This session will present the Walk Audit tool developed to facilitate a 2 hour (or less) event with community members. Case study examples will be included and provide participants with tips and lessons learned on how to best guide walk audit groups and gather feedback in a meaningful and manageable way. Evaluation of the City’s walkability based on the complementary Neighborhood Access tool also will be presented and discussed. Collectively these tools are helping the City assess current walk sheds and identify and prioritize future investments to increase the coverage of walk friendly neighborhoods. Summary: In 2013, the City of Boulder Colorado began an update to its Transportation Master Plan, the long-range blue print prioritizing investments for a balanced transportation system. As part of the community engagement process, the city launched the Boulder Walks program to conduct community walk audits, learn what makes a good pedestrian environment. One product of the program is development of neighborhood based walking maps that highlight historical, cultural or neighborhood points of interest to encourage exploration of Boulder neighborhoods. The Walk Audits also are a new planning tool to assess the built environment, share observations and identify deficiencies as part of transportation corridor studies. An interdepartmental staff team from Transportation and Community Planning and Sustainability (CP+S) partner to host Walk Audits to raise awareness on the interrelationship between transportation corridors and the land use it serves. Staff and community members gain insight into the varying contexts of the existing built environment and the extent they meet the needs and desires of pedestrians in creating a sense of place. Additionally, the Audits have helped identify design elements that support a walkable community. Each walk audit is scheduled for 1.5 to 2 hours, which is a manageable commitment for more community members than a ½ or full day design workshop. Walk Audit participants have helped to refine Walk Audit materials and guide more meaningful community feedback. In addition to the walk audits providing direct observations of the conditions that support walking, the city has also developed a Neighborhood Access Tool that characterizes the access that pedestrians have to locations and businesses needed to meet daily needs. This tool illustrates aspects of the 20 minute neighborhood by displaying the walk shed for a given travel time around given attractors and can then aggregate these walk sheds to display the number of attractors available from a given location. The distance that one can cover in a given travel time is dependent on the quality of the pedestrian facilities available so information from the Walk Audits can be incorporated into the Neighborhood Access Tool.
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SHIFTING THE 'SCHOOL RUN' TO THE 'SCHOOL WALK': MEASURING THE BENEFITS OF WALKING FOR THE NEXT GENERATION Palais Room Walking to school: Good for kids, community and the economy Jacqueline Kennedy Between 2009 and 2012, 71 Ontario schools implemented the Canadian School Travel Planning (STP) model, promoting active and sustainable modes of school travel for families, delivered through partnerships of schools, municipalities, public health units and community groups. Evaluations of STP projects, such as the 2012 national summary of the Children’s Health, Mobility and Happiness: A Canadian School Travel Planning Model www.saferoutestoschool.ca/downloads/Executive%20Summary-CLASP%20Results-May%202012.pdf and the “Stepping It Up - Final Report” www.metrolinx.com/en/projectsandprograms/schooltravel/school_travel_resources.aspx, demonstrate that travel behaviour change can be achieved. The groundbreaking study, conducted with data from 19 STP projects ranging in population size and type (urban, suburban and rural), goes a step farther, and serves as the first benefit-cost analysis (BCA) of STP projects conducted in Canada. This study measures the model’s cost-effectiveness and demonstrates a BCA method that can be honed and utilized going forward. The 19 were screened for the study based upon student travel survey datasets and response rates, and collectively reflect the diverse application of STP across the province. For each of the selected STP projects, existing student travel mode data was compiled, and data regarding project costs, time, and initiatives delivered was collected from each community. The BCA methodology was developed collaboratively, including a peer review component. The values used to estimate the benefits of increases in walking and decreases in car travel were derived from the Victoria Transport Policy Institute’s “Evaluating Active Transport Benefits and Costs” report. These benefit values are conservative compared to those used by other jurisdictions. Based on the estimated net present value benefits and total costs, the benefit-cost ratio of 1.8 supports the STP model as a relatively cost-effective intervention that when effectively coordinated and implemented can result in positive school travel behaviour change, and ultimately provide substantial economic, environmental and physical activity benefits. Additionally, this study demonstrates that the STP model can be evaluated, and provides a method that can be further refined going forward. Our presentation will provide details on the methodology used and show the importance of these early results in creating a long-lasting, sustainable active school travel initiative whose end goal is a return to a culture of walking to school. Road safety audit light for setting up school route maps Juergen Gerlach The new step-by-step guideline “How to Create School Route Maps - A Guide” gives important information and names useful sources, to create a good School Route Map with passable effort. Typical deficiencies on recommended routes to school are described and conclusions for practice are deduced from research results and especially from several Road Safety Audits and Inspections of Urban Main Roads and Residential Roads. An innovation is that practical support is given to contribute to appropriate advices on school route maps and to allow laymen the proper identification of safety deficiencies. A good school route map is created in a co-operation of schools, communities, police and parents, respectively pupils. Each of these partners can contribute their special information and skills which can be considered and be used for creating a school route map. These maps should show the surroundings of the school in an easy and clearly represented way. Buildings, streets and walkways should be visible. A recommendation for a safe way to school is shown in the map. School route maps are a known and accepted tool to increase road safety on routes to schools. 8
The definition of a good school route map and its contents depends on problems and aims which have to be described and specified locally. Thus, the “ideal school route map” cannot exist. A good school route map is basically a tool to reach common as well as locally specified aims. Basis of a good school route map is – besides the accident analysis - the consideration of local conditions and needs of children and parents on their ways to school. The examination of existing school route maps showed that recommendations are often incorrect. Common deficiencies of recommended routes to school are: excessive permitted speed limits, the lack of lines-of-sight and too long and not accepted detours. Therefore on-site-visits are necessary during the development of a school route map to avoid such mistakes and wrong recommendations for routes. Dangerous spots have to be explained at least textually, at best using photographs. Courses of action should be provided to manage dangerous spots. The presentation will give an overview of typical deficiencies as “lessons learned” from Road Safety Audits and Inspections in relation to school routes, of typical faults made in existing school routes maps and of the main recommendations for setting up optimal school routes maps. Health cost effectiveness of active travel in school trips Alireza Ermagun Overweight and obesity prevalence among children and adolescents has been dramatically increasing across the globe in recent decades. This is a dangerous trend given that being overweight or obese increases the risks of a plethora of health problems including myocardial infarction, stroke, type II diabetes, cancer, hypertension, depression, osteoarthritis, and asthma. Outcomes of obesity not only affect the quality of life, productivity, and social health, but they also impose heavy direct and indirect costs on society. The probability of obesity prevalence has an inverse relation with physical activity, especially in childhood and adolescence; in this vein the U.S. Surgeon General has declared regular, moderate physical activity as a major prerequisite to a healthy lifestyle. According to various studies, walking is the most prevailing mode of physical activity, and is prescribed to students who travel to school to be the best chance to constitute their daily recommended physical activity. Therefore, employing active transportation modes such as walking and biking in school trips can lead a decrease in obesity prevalence and the costs associated with obesity in society. This study was an effort to understand both the motives behind active transportation modes along with the annual value of health benefits of promoting walking in school trips. A three level nested logit model is introduced to explain the motives behind school trip modal selection. We particularly underscored the significance of model misspecification in terms of policy outcomes, since multinomial logit models are typically adopted in the literature and have strong and, in many cases, unrealistic assumptions. The data was collected for the city of Tehran, from a cross-sectional cohort of more than 4,700 high school and middle school students. This study looked at a wide range of policy sensitive variables such as safety and distance to school in various scenarios. The objective of this study is to inform policy makers to the financial health benefits of promoting walking in school trips. Such findings help policy makers to better apply short and long term policies, including “safe route to school” and “school siting.” The findings of this study demonstrate that if the safety concerns of parents associated with their children walking to school are alleviated, the direct and indirect annual costs of obesity per capita falls by 882 dollars. Likewise, findings showed that the potential enactment of such alleviation policies among different strata of society yield different outcomes. For instance, addressing parental safety concerns leads to a promotion of active travel modes, particularly among girls and high school students, while families with low incomes and lack of automobiles experienced the smallest increase in active modes. Such findings can better inform policy makers in the implementation of public policy. Among other findings in this study is that a one percent decrease in the distance from home to school can decrease the annual per capita health costs associated with obesity by about $30.5. Studies such as these can provide policy makers with nuanced information so that they may engage in cost benefit analysis regarding policies for promoting active transportation modes.
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WALKING AND CYCLING: FRIENDS OR FOES?
The Big Top
What happens when walkers and cyclists share the space? Narelle Haworth Recent increases in cycling have led to many media articles highlighting concerns about interactions between cyclists and pedestrians on footpaths and shared paths. This paper seeks to assess the safety issues related to cyclists and pedestrians sharing space by examining relevant Australian crash and injury data, reviewing relevant research, and presenting results of two studies by the authors. Most crash and injury data sources in Australia do not separate cyclist-pedestrian collisions occurring on footpaths from those occurring on roads. In Queensland there were 181 pedestrians injured in Policereported collisions involving bicycles in 1993-2008, including two deaths and 68 coded as hospitalised. In 2008-09 across Australia, 40 pedestrians were hospitalised as a result of a collision with a cyclist and 33 cyclists from collisions with pedestrians. Much of the safety literature has focused on pedestrian-motor vehicle and cyclist-motor vehicle interactions because of the potential severity of these interactions. International research has demonstrated that cyclists riding on the footpath are considered a hazard by elderly pedestrians, particularly in jurisdictions where footpath cycling is prohibited and therefore those cyclists riding on footpaths may be predisposed to unsafe behaviours. In our online survey of more than 2,500 Queensland adult cyclists, about a third of respondents reported riding on footpaths, however two-thirds reported they ride there reluctantly, rather than by choice. New riders were more likely to ride on the footpath than continuing or other riders but continuing riders actually rode further on footpaths than new riders or other riders. Utilitarian riders were the most likely to ride on the footpath, followed by social and then fitness riders. Almost 10% of footpath crashes involved only the bicycle but 18% of crashes on bike paths involved pedestrians, suggesting that shared paths may be a greater challenge for cyclist-pedestrian interactions than footpaths. The data suggested that riding on the footpath did not increase cyclist crash risk and was associated with lower injury severity. Our studies of cyclist-pedestrian interactions in Brisbane in 2010 and 2012 observed very few conflicts (defined as there being potential for a collision to occur if no-one took evasive action) and no crashes. For 252 observations in which cyclists were riding on the footpath within less than one metre of pedestrians, there were 16 conflicts (6.3% of cases). For 303 observations where cyclists were riding within one to five metres of pedestrians, there were 12 conflicts (4% of cases). These results are discussed in terms of the Safe Systems principle of separating road users with vastly different levels of kinetic energy. From a public health perspective, the opportunity to ride on the footpath may act to encourage cycling (particularly among new cyclists) because it is perceived to be less dangerous than riding on the road. However, work needs to be done to reduce both the perceived and actual risks to pedestrians. Challenges and opportunities Ben Rossiter This presentation will outline the findings and recommendations of the research study ‘Senior Victorians and walking: obstacles and opportunities’. This large, comprehensive study commissioned by Victoria Walks provides important findings for a population group who, more than most, need to feel safe and confident being outside and participating in community life. The research fills a much needed gap, as relatively little is known about the environmental, social and policy determinants of physical activity and walking for older adults, particularly in an Australian context. The presentation will report on most important perceived barriers to walking and the measures that might improve their feelings of safety when walking. The study included: A desktop literature review of supports and constraints on walking by seniors; Analysis of seniors walking data from the Victorian Integrated Survey of Travel and Activity; 10
Eight focus group discussions with a total of 32 senior Victorians; and A survey of 1,128 senior Victorians.
The study found that walking is extremely important for seniors, who are less likely than younger adults to participate in more vigorous forms of physical activity, more likely to experience social isolation and less likely to drive a car. Walking is highly valued by seniors for a range of reasons including improved health, wellbeing, independence, personal mobility and social connectedness. The study found that walking for transport is a more socially inclusive form of physical activity than leisuretime activity. While socioeconomically disadvantaged population groups are substantially less likely than advantaged groups to participate in recreational exercise, walking for transport is evenly distributed across the socioeconomic spectrum. The study also found that the preferred distance seniors are prepared to walk to get to places (500-1000m) does not vary significantly with age. Seniors walk much more in inner Melbourne suburbs, which have a high degree of walkability, than outer Melbourne or regional Victoria, which are generally car-oriented. Furthermore, utilitarian trip purposes become increasingly important as seniors age, from 53% of walking trips for 60-69 year olds to 81% of walking trips for those 80+. This confirms the important contribution that walking makes to older adults’ mobility and independence. The presentation discusses the substantial differences in walking rates for older adults between countries and challenges the widely-held perception that low rates of walking for transport among older adults in Victoria is largely due to increasing ill-health and functional limitations. The walkability of the environment appears to be a more important determinant of walking by seniors. The presentation will comment on implications of the findings on housing, planning and urban design.
1030 – 1530
WALKSHOPS
Let's Go Down The GreenWay... (1030 – 1330) Nick Chapman Delegates participating in this walkshop will:- see the challenge of retrofitting an integrated active transport network and light rail extension along a redundant industrial rail corridor in Sydney’s Inner West; - understand the value of using the GreenWay/light rail corridor as an experiential, authentic learning activity for school students, by participating in a walk from the award-winning, accredited Greenway Primary Schools Sustainability Program. Background to the GreenWay: The GreenWay is a 5km sustainable transport and urban environmental corridor which connects the Parramatta River and the Cooks River through Sydney’s Inner West. 50% of the Greenway shared-use path is in place and the remaining 50% is due to be constructed over the next 5 years. The GreenWay follows the route of the Inner West Light Rail extension from Lilyfield to Dulwich Hill, which opened in March 2014. The GreenWay Vision was established by the Inner West community in the late 1990’s. The Greenway Place Management Program is supported by the Councils of Leichhardt, Marrickville, Ashfield and Canterbury. The GreenWay Walkshop will take 3 hours, door to door. It will comprise:- a ferry ride from Luna Park to Darling Harbour (15 mins) - light rail from Darling Harbour to Lewisham West, Summer Hill (30mins) - a guided walk along a section of the Greenway/light rail corridor (1.75 hrs) - light rail from Hawthorne back to Darling Harbour (15 mins) - a short ferry ride from Darling Harbour back to Luna Park (15 mins), The Walkshop will be led by Nick Chapman, GreenWay Place Manager. It will be based on one of the walks in the GreenWay Primary Schools Sustainability Program. This unique Program is registered and accredited by the NSW Institute of Teachers and Sydney’s Observatory Hill Environmental Education Centre. It won a 11
2012 PIA Commendation Award in the “planning for children and young people” category, sponsored by the NSW Commission for Children and Young People. The walk introduces participants to a range of urban sustainability themes and experiences, such as:- active transport - urban ecology, litter and weeds - history of place - urban water cycle - community art - use and management of contested urban space By participating in the Walkshop, delegates will: - experience first-hand an attractive, engaging ferry and light rail ride and urban walk; - observe the challenges of securing cross-council and state agency cooperation to retrofit integrated walking, cycling and public domain improvements along a redundant industrial goods rail line which traverses 4 LGAs, crosses three major roads and goes past several major development sites. - appreciate the value of using the local urban environment to:o teach local students about the history and qualities of their place; o enhance understanding of urban sustainability issues through a unique, authentic, experiential learning activity; o develop confidence and a sense of stewardship for the local environment amongst local primary school students and their families; o raise awareness amongst the primary school community of the value of walking, cycling and public transport as an alternative to the car. Walking Professionals (1100 – 1230) Colin Henson This abstract examines the possibility of forming a useful collaboration of professionals relevant to increasing walking in NSW and Australia. This would include professions such as planning, pedestrian planning, architecture, engineering, landscape design, urban design, health, medicine, mental health, law, transport services, logistics, retail, sustainability, development, governance and regulation, teaching, finance, insurance etc. The existing professional bodies have separate identities and come together through particular modes or interests such as the road lobby (e.g. Infrastructure Partnerships Australia) or rail lobby (Australasian Railways Association). Unfortunately, walking does not have a major industry sponsoring it with the ginger of self interest. The individual professional learned societies such as the Institute of Architects or Engineers Australia do not currently see walking as a core interest, although bodies such as AITPM and PIA and Government/Health services sponsor some cross-professional interest in walking. A walkshop around Walk 21 in Sydney with some of the right range of people together might be a catalyst. A draft agenda for the workshop might include: Draft Name, Mission Statement of a support group or association of professionals working in the field of pedestrian planning and walking. Objectives: advocacy, training, reference, etc Who should be involved? Groups, Individuals, Government, Businesses, Sponsors and potential Champions? Could be under the umbrella of a NSW Walks, along the lines of Walks Victoria or overseas models, Responsibilities, gaps, and next steps (sic)
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The New Rouse Hill (1230 – 1530) Sue Wiblin “In towns and cities, public space has always served as a meeting place, market place and traffic way. The enjoyable towns and cities have been those that found a comfortable balance between these three demands without forfeiting their links with the natural world. In the town centre at Rouse Hill, we will achieve this balance, we will create this harmony. Life will return to the streets and lanes. The comings and goings of pedestrians will dominate that life, yet they will always feel connected to the unique Australian landscape. Interest in the town centre as a meeting place will be renewed, the centre will become an attraction, people will stop and stay a while, participate, and take pride in its look, its structure and its innovations. It will become their second home.” This was the vision for Rouse Hill Town Centre, the focal point in the development of a state-of-the-art regional centre in Sydney’s North West growth corridor called The New Rouse Hill. The New Rouse Hill developed by The GPT Group, in a joint venture with Lend Lease and in partnership with Urban Growth NSW and the NSW Department of Planning covers 120 hectares and consists of residential neighbourhoods, a mixed-use Town Centre, learning and community space, schools and recreational precincts. Principal to the development was a commitment to active and sustainable transport through designed in pedestrian and cycle paths, a transport interchange and an active transport strategy that supports a connected community focus. Participants in the Walkshop will be able to experience life at Rouse Hill exploring the interconnected walking paths that link the precincts and meandering along Main Street to Town Square. Guided by the Rouse Hill development manager and GPT’s community engagement manager, participants will learn about the interplay between the urban design elements and ongoing programs that have together, helped develop a walking culture and a connected, active community. Further to this, the workshop will provide an insight into the next stage of development of Rouse Hill and the evolution of the design to incorporate heavy rail.
13:30 – 1500
CONCURRENT PRESENTATIONS
THE PECHA KUCHA CHALLENGE
Crystal Ballroom
A public open space planning tool for the Perth and Perth Metropolitan region in Western Australia Paula Hooper An important feature of liveable and sustainable communities is the provision of adequate “green infrastructure” including public open space (POS) which provide communities with a range of physical, social and mental health benefits. This adds to the increasing pressure on local governments to ensure and protect adequate provision of POS whilst accommodating an increasing population through densification, urbanisation and infill. Furthermore, there is widespread debate about whether the 10% quantity-based planning provision of POS in WA has adversely affected the size, function and spatial accessibility of POS and resulted in the under provision of spaces providing for active recreation (such as playing fields/ovals and other sporting activities) as well as insufficient diversity of parks and nature areas for users of all ages. Underpinning the debate about these issues is the need for good data on POS. While many Local Government Authorities (LGAs) hold data on their parks and POS, the quality and form of these data varies between LGAs making comparisons difficult, and merging of different data sources for larger scale and regional analysis impossible which is limiting good planning policy and practice. POS Tool (www.postool.com.au) was developed by the Centre for the Built Environment and Health based at The University of Western Australia in response to the need for better POS planning decisions and the gap in accurate and comparable data on the provision of POS across jurisdictional boundaries throughout Perth and Peel. POS Tool is a web-based geospatial tool providing end users with access and opportunity to visualise and spatially analyse the provision and distribution of public open space (POS) across the Perth and Peel regions. It provides for the first time, access to a unique, extensive, accurate and unrivalled spatial database with a level of detail which has previously been unavailable for POS information in WA. POS Tool has five important and unique features that provide benefits to residents, local governments, state level stake holders and researchers alike: 13
1. Search by an address to find information on nearby parks in surrounding areas; 2. Search for a park by park name to get information on the available facilities and amenities in a specific park; 3. Search by suburb or LGA to source and export summary statistics on the number and types of POS and park facilities within the chosen administrative boundary and population access to different POS and park types; 4. Draw or upload your own area of interest (provision for end users with and without GIS skills) and analyse and export summary statistics on POS provision, park facilities and population access to different park types. 5. Model/scenario test POS provision of population growth and the provision of and access to POS and park amenity. Good neighbours become good friends Tom Platt Living Streets is working directly with older people (50+) to overcome specific barriers that they have face, and to get them out walking more for their physical and mental health. Outcomes from the project are both at street level where we have been working in several communities across South Yorkshire (England), in particular where there are concentrations of older and vulnerable people, but also through campaigning to represent these issues nationally. To understand the barriers that face older people, and learn about how best to communicate a message to them more broadly, we ran focus groups with older people. We spoke to them about barriers they faced, including specific health and confidence issues, about which street issues they felt strongly about, particularly crossings and personal safety, and how adverse weather affected them. We also looked at how best to overcome these, be it through information about health benefits, campaigning messaging and tools or devices to support them, like ice grips for shoes. A report outlines the results and we would like to present this. We have developed a handbook based on focus group findings. Where health issues can be a barrier to people across a variety of ailments, we provide information that walking can actually support their health needs. We show how people can report street issues to support older people and provide real inspiring case studies of how walking is part of many people’s lives. The handbook is supporting a variety of community events, volunteering and interventions to help us integrate walking into the daily lives of older people, including historical walks and social activities that help older people connect with their communities. We are working with carers to put more walking into their own approach to care, training them to do this safely. We have delivered inter-generational activities so younger members of the community can help their elderly neighbours, such as grandparent walks, clearing slippery leaves from paths, and planning for gritting icy pavements. Work in neighbourhoods has focused on improving walking journeys to vital services such as doctors’ surgeries, pharmacies, the post office, local shop, post box and community centres. Using our renowned Community Street Audits (CSAs), we invite people to indicate the barriers they face as well as the positive elements in their streets. Key barriers that have been raised include uneven footways, inadequate crossing points and lack of resting places. Issues are highlighted in a audit report and negotiations then take place between partner organisations and local authorities. A barrier has been installed on a slope to support access to a post box, a crossing time has been extended and benches restored, amongst other improvements. The project has shown that by taking time to listen to older people’s views, consider the broad and varied needs of this audience take this audience and involve older people in local decision making, we have been able to make a difference in neighbourhood and break down the multiple barriers for older people.
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Western Sydney Green Grid Barbara Schaffer By 2060 there will be 8.4 million people living in Metropolitan Sydney, a predicted 80% population increase. How do we plan for this increased density and ensure that Sydney remains distinctive and inspiring and one of the most liveable cities in the world? How to we create a city where walking, cycling and access to nature is seamlessly integrated into planning policy. The Government Architects Office (GAO) is offering a blueprint for Metropolitan Sydney which will inform subregional planning and create a network of interlinked multi-purpose open spaces with good connections to the areas where people live and work and play. This regional network of open space has the potential to provide the spatial framework for future growth in Sydney and offer significant opportunities for healthy active living. Parramatta is anticipated to be the fastest growing centre outside Global Sydney. Using Parramatta as a case study, GAO in collaboration with Parramatta City Council has created a strategic network of open space to ensure that green space is an urban design outcome that will be embedded and articulated in the ensuing process of urban transformation. The Parramatta Liveable City Network recognises the benefit of high quality open space and aims to connect people, places and nature throughout Parramatta. This network will ensure that the city is pleasurable, memorable and resilient and that it supports the healthy life style and active living that is highly valued in Australian culture. The network emanates from the Parramatta River, linking the open space associated with its creek corridors to the 31 centres, including the CBD, neighbourhood and village centres. The network supplements the rivers linear parkland with new walks and open space to ensure that over time, no centre is more than 10minutes walk away from healthy and pleasant outdoor places. The network delivers a series of trails which builds upon the natural and cultural history of the place. It builds on the extensive work undertaken by RMS and Parramatta City Council over the past 20 years, particularly in the construction of the Parramatta Valley Cycleway, most recently with the assistance of a substantial Liveable Cities grant from the Federal Government. By strategically locating additional parks and connections; a series of paths for running, walking and cycling are created ranging from 3 km to 8 km in length. The loops and runs connect to create over one hundred kilometres of healthy urban trails and shared paths through the LGA. Outside of Parramatta the network will be extended into the park and river systems of adjacent Councils to offer new regional walking and recreational trails that link to the coast as well as the mountains. Breaking down the barriers to walking to school Chris Thompson Walk to School Outreach is delivered in partnership with 13 local authorities working directly with children, schools and the community to overcome obstacles to walking, increasing levels of walking at primary and secondary schools. We are targeting locations where the school run is having a negative impact on congestion, journey times and economic growth. The project focuses on a whole school approach - using student, parental and community involvement and targeted highway infrastructure improvements to make walking to school the norm. To date the project has achieved all of its targets and over its lifetime will work with 854 primary schools, (equating to 213,500 pupils) and 182 secondary schools (180,180 pupils). Year One measures show walking has increased by 26% in participating primaries and 6.5% in secondaries. In each area, schools are identified for in-depth support (364 in total). Coordinators work with the school community and local authority to identify and tackle barriers to walking. Improvements will be implemented in 90 locations and the project estimates that 34,713 pupils overall will benefit from improvements to their walk to school. An annual budget is held by each Coordinator and these improvements range from inexpensive, quick wins through to larger scale improvements. Local authority contributions are also crucial to delivery, enabling greater walking environment improvements, influenced by school community needs. Through the first two years of the project 14 Coordinators have worked intensively with 224 schools. All of these schools have benefitted from a School Route Audit (SRA). SRAs have been developed specifically for use in schools from our street audit method, which we have used successfully in over 200 communities in 15
the last five years. Using this approach we engage pupils as leaders, taking them and their teachers, parents/carers and influential members of the community on a walkabout around the school, mapping any accessibility, safety or route condition concerns, and producing a report with recommended actions. Through many of the SRAs the issues are identified by the children and young people themselves. Our Coordinators the support the pupils to seek and implement change: In St Nicholas School in Blackpool, students are creating an engaging Park and Stride route to school, improving areas along the route and using images our popular mascot Strider as ‘footprints’ on the pavement to follow. At Durham High School for Girls, the students identified a footpath running alongside the school was very narrow causing pupils and the public to walk into the road. As a result overhanging vegetation was cut back and the footpath resurfaced and widened to the standard 1.8 metre width. The Burgate School and Sixth Form in the New Forest suffered heavy congestion in front of the school by chartered busses with only one access gate for cars and pedestrians. Through the SRA a new pedestrians only side entrance gate and a pathway through the school ground gardens were created to alleviate congestion at the front of school. To make walking the natural choice for the school run, routes to school need to make walking to school safer and easier. At the same time routes need to cater for socialising, play, supporting learning and nurturing of good relationships and citizenship. Through our School Routes Audits we are working with people who have a stake in their local community to break down the barriers to walking and create walking routes to school which families want to use.
STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT PERSPECTIVES: WALKING IN SYDNEY Crystal Ballroom How do we cater for growth in walking trips in Sydney city centre? Desmond Mow, Katherine McCray Sydney is Australia’s leading global city and primary economic centre. The Sydney CBD is a growing economic hub and cultural focal point for metropolitan Sydney and the whole of Australia. As a result, people are attracted to the CBD for a variety of reasons. Over 630,000 trips are made to Sydney CBD every day. Furthermore, there are 1.27 million trips within the CBD each day. 92% of these trips within the CBD are by walking. For this reason, the provision of high quality pedestrian facilities and level of service supports the efficient movement of people in the Sydney CBD. 80% of people accessing the CBD during the peak arrive by public transport and almost every public transport user becomes a pedestrian in the CBD, . Walking is also the key means that tourists and other visitors see the CBD, particularly when exploring precincts such as Circular Quay and Darling Harbour. The significant walking task in Sydney’s CBD is subject to its own issues and challenges. These issues include competition for limited street and kerb space leading to overcrowding and reduced amenity. With the expected employment and residential growth, the walking task in Sydney’s CBD will only increase. Furthermore, the spatial and temporal elements of walking demand will change, due to major redevelopments in the southern and northern CBD, such as Barangaroo and the Sydney International Convention, Exhibition and Entertainment precinct. The NSW Government is committed to improving the safety and quality of the experience of walking in the CBD as part of an integrated transport system. The NSW Government released the Sydney City Centre Access Strategy and Sydney’s Walking Future in 2013 which outline clear actions for improving opportunities and quality of walking in Sydney’s CBD. Key words: Walking, Sydney CBD, Barangaroo, Darling Harbour, Wynyard, Transport for NSW
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Developing a walking strategy: A local government perspective Mitchell Lee, Tim Aldham, Laurence Johnson The City of Sydney has developed a Draft Walking Strategy and Action Plan. The Draft Strategy aims to help create an environment which supports walking as a mode of transport across the City of Sydney LGA. This paper looks at the process undertaken and the challenges experienced in developing the Draft Strategy, including: Consideration of the existing State Government policy framework. While there is current strong support for improving the walking environment at State level as evidenced through the release of ‘Sydney’s Walking Future’, the broader context needed to be considered for State Government alignment. Analysis of the existing City policy framework. Some of the questions asked at this stage included, ‘Why does the organisation need a strategy’, ‘Where will the walking strategy fit?’ and, ‘Does it justify being a stand-alone strategy?’ Ensuring that the strategy created accountability. Identifying ambitious yet achievable targets that are measurable with a clear timeframe was an important part of this process. Accepting that there will be detractors and critics of the City’s work in order to identify the best way of writing the sections of the strategy which provide supporting evidence and justification. By identifying these potential opponents, we worked towards ensuring the tone of the document was correctly pitched. Important other considerations at this stage were the length of the document and being mindful of striking a balance between brevity and adequate justification. Building support within the City including briefings to explain the impact on different business units and explanation of the benefits of increased walking to build support and buy in. This process was vital to ensure a greater chance of implementation.
ACTIVE BODY, ACTIVE BRAIN
Ted Hopkins Room
Heart Foundation Walking: Encouraging older Australians to get active, get social and to get out and about in their communities Michelle Wilson
Active body active brain: Heart Foundation Walking including people with dementia for an improved quality of life Helen Morley Heart Foundation Walking is Australia’s largest national network of free community based walking groups led by volunteer Walk Organisers. The Active Body Active Brain pilot project was developed in partnership with ACH Group, following successful funding from Alzheimer’s Australia National Quality Dementia Care Initiative in June 2012. Walking is a highly appropriate form of physical activity for people with dementia. It can have a positive quality of life impact for them, their family carers and service providers. Aim: The aim was to demonstrate the effectiveness of walking as a non pharmacological intervention for behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia through improved access to Heart Foundation Walking groups across Australia. This was targeted at people with dementia living independently in the community as well as those with more advanced stages of dementia in residential care. Method: Through a project reference group, on-line surveys and focus groups, the project sought to identify information and resources needed to promote access to walking groups for people with dementia, and information about dementia to Walk Organisers. A project reference group was formed which included professionals and consumers representing Alzheimer’s Australia, professionals from Bupa Dementia Care Services, Frontier Services (Northern Territory), Heart Foundation and ACH Group. Contact was through teleconferences and one face to face meeting. Resources developed included an online learning module for Heart Foundation Walking Walk Organisers and a tips and tools document on including people with dementia in the program. A short influential DVD featuring a consumer representative on why walking helps his dementia was produced. Seventeen walking groups inclusive of people dementia were piloted across Australia, including culturally and linguistically diverse and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Fifteen groups completed the 12 week pilot walking period and participated in a Quality of Life evaluation survey known to be suitable 17
for people with dementia. It encompassed both pre and post walk questions for the walker with dementia, family carer’s perceptions of the quality of life of their relative with dementia and also on their own quality of life since their relative had been walking. Results: The pilot project demonstrated an improvement in quality of life for people with dementia. Project participants ranged from younger onset dementia to those older and frailer, showing that walking is a beneficial activity for all stages of dementia. Improvements in behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia were observed with statistically significant enhancements seen in family relationships, sleep and overall quality of life. Smaller improvements were noted in improved mood and relationships with friends. Conclusions: Walking does improve the quality of life for people with dementia. Walkers, family carers and service providers stated walking was a positive activity; some identified being part of the Heart Foundation Walking program rather than walking on their own gave structure and recognition and was a non judgemental activity for people with dementia. The benefits of physical activity, particularly walking, should be highlighted to all people with dementia, their carers and service providers as a method to improve their health and quality of life. The potential of walking and urban design to influence dementia rates in the elderly Carmel Boyce, Miles Tight This paper aims to draw together the disparate strands of the growing body of work on the protective effects of walking on dementia rates and its onset and the implications these might have for future development of walking environments. The paper uses key pieces in an evolving literature on the dementia protective effects of walking, using place to understand different comparative outcomes of people in place, and why the nature of place, the location of infrastructure and the walking environment design matters to older people. Maintaining mobility for as long as possible is key to staving off the ravages of dementia, improving the quality of life for those at risk and reducing the number of years lived with a disability. It will also save the human & health costs associated with caring for those affected. In describing the qualities of dementia friendly environments supportive of people ageing in place, Burton, Mitchell and Ramon found their main qualities were familiarity, legibility, distinctiveness, accessibility, comfort and safety (http://www.idgo.ac.uk/about_idgo/docs/NfL-FL.pdf). Dementia friendly environments protect people who already have mild stages of dementia from getting disoriented and lost while enabling them to maintain their physical independence for longer in the only place they continue to have an intimate knowledge of. But what if there were environments which protected against onset altogether? A considerable volume of work has been reported in research across the world about the protective effects of walking and why it matters, particularly in protecting against dementia. This paper considers the practical implications of research on the links between walking and onset of dementia for planning of the built environment, in particular how the environment might be used to maximise usability for the elderly. As an example it has been shown (ERICKSON, KIRK, 2014) that a daily 20 minute walk (800m in most planning scheme terms or a walk ))to the shops daily) can reduce the risk of dementia by 40%. It is also known that elderly people who walk regularly—as in six to nine miles a week (to the local shops and back daily), as part of their normal routine—are less likely to suffer from mental decline as they age and are less likely to suffer from dementia. However, most literature on maintaining mobility personalises / individualises the issue rather than understanding it from a systematic perspective (see for instance (Alzheimers Society, 1998). If the key to quality of life in older adulthood is embedded in having access to a walkable built environment in midlife, surely the nature of that environment becomes critical from bothpersonal, social and a health care perspective in mid life. That’s us.. The built environments near our homes, in our downsized abodes as our children leave, around retirement villages and older persons housing, nursing homes and aged care environments all require similar characteristics to those which protect against dementia and enable us to age in place. 18
If we study the built environment we currently have, depending on its characteristics we can potentially start to predict areas in which the onset of dementia will be greater, or less severe dependent on walking conditions, habits and ratios of older persons within the population. Is this the missing factor now in aged care bed planning? Our paper is a preliminary attempt to review the coincidence of clusters of dementia and walkable built environments.
HEALTHY PLANNING – MAKING CONNECTIONS FROM EVIDENCE TO PRACTICE Sonar Room Presenters: Susan Thompson (UNSW Healthy built Environments Program), Romilly Madew (Green Building Council of Australia) and Paul Klarenaar (Northern Sydney Local Health District). Abstract: There is an increasing body of evidence from planning, transport and health demonstrating the key attributes of the urban environment to promote more walking. Evidence also demonstrates that more walkable spaces are more profitable for local businesses. Urban regeneration is a key focus of the future development plans of the greater Sydney metropolitan area and across NSW. Ensuring these spaces are more walkable provides opportunities to increase health of residents, decrease congestion and improve local economies. This roundtable aims to highlight opportunities and challenges for translating healthy planning research evidence into the creation of more walkable healthy environments. The session will include three presentations. Susan Thompson will explain to what extent research evidence has contributed to planning practice, and the types of information that are likely to have impact on ‘healthy planning’ policy and practice. Susan will describe examples of recent NSW Planning legislative and policy changes that have incorporated these health considerations such as the inclusion of a health objective within the draft NSW planning Bill. Romilly Madew will provide a view from the development industry with a focus on challenges and opportunities for developers to incorporate design features that promote increased walkability within urban regeneration. Romilly will explore how the Green Star Communities Rating Tool is encouraging healthy and active living through increased walkability of developments. Paul Klarenaar will talk about how local health district staff have been using healthy planning research evidence and emerging planning policy levers as tools for collaborating with local council planners to create more supportive environments for walking. A panel discussion will conclude the session with a focus on key factors for promoting greater walkability and healthy urban environments and offer an opportunity for comments and questions from the audience.
THINK, PLAN, WALK: THREE THOUGHTFUL CASE STUDIES
Big Top Foyer Two
Go West! A pedestrian perspective to Barangaroo Paul Stanley The new Barangaroo Development will double the commercial employment in Sydney’s CBD western corridor and with it will create an exciting step change in the movement patterns within the city. With a forecast daily population in excess of 80,000 people, the challenge is in getting workers, visitors and residents between Barangaroo, Wynyard Station and the CBD as well as around the site itself. This presentation explores how existing and future pedestrian planning techniques can help define our city planning. We present the types of techniques that are used now as well as how technology and research is being harnessed to provide a more holistic approach, with richer more layered response to the pedestrian environment. A Barangaroo development cannot be considered in isolation. Instead it must be considered as a series of 4D links, where time reflects years, days of the weeks and individual hours of the day and the links reflect opportunities to walk with associated activities. How can we get people to the site both safely and with high amenity? How do we build the connections to precincts without impacting the status quo? Simulation software to predict pedestrian movement is not new, but models to reflect city precincts rather than isolated (e.g. station) environments are now becoming more feasible given technological advances. For Barangaroo 19
a city precinct model was constructed to test peak periods, whilst the use of more strategic tools coupled with GIS software has enabled a framework to analyse movements around the Barangaroo precinct during lunchtime peak periods. But how can we continue to evolve? How can we capture more behaviour data and learn from it? Working with the University of Melbourne, we have set out to explore different ways to capture and learn from data which informs movement and future Pedestrian City Thinking. Through this research, we are beginning to use existing cameras to examine pedestrian activity: walking, running, cycling and even the impact of mobile phone use. We are also using outputs from different disciplines (e.g. acoustics, lighting, air quality, smoke) to provide additional layers with pedestrian movement, and displaying these outputs within a visual environment. Through this approach, a new wave of planning will evolve where the quality of the pedestrian environment will dictate the definition of a City. Camberwell Junction principal pedestrian network demonstration project Hywel Rowlands Objective: The objective of the paper is to present the Principal Pedestrian Network Demonstration project undertaken at the Camberwell Junction Activity Area in Melbourne. The project seeks to demonstrate the importance of walking and to deliver and evaluate a strategic framework, infrastructure delivered and a behaviour change program. The project has been delivered in partnership with the Department of Transport Planning and Local Infrastructure (DTPLI) and infrastructure and behavioural change initiatives have been jointly funded by the City of Boroondara and the Commonwealth's Liveable Cities program. Techniques and Approaches: The paper will outline: • Surveys that demonstrate the existing importance of walking and potential latent demand for walking. Techniques include questionnaire surveys, a pedestrian count cordon and GIS modelling in line with a DTPLI methodology. • Rational and approach for choosing walking corridors for infrastructure improvement. • Research in terms of infrastructure initiatives that may encourage walking participation. • Infrastructure delivered and challenges. • Design, trial and delivery of a behaviour change initiative, Try Walking. • Changes in walking participation as a result of the delivered initiatives. Findings so far: Pedestrians consistently represent a 20% mode share to Camberwell Junction and of all the modes used by visitors, pedestrians visit the most often and spend the most annually. Counts (beyond parking areas) reveal that 15,000 pedestrians (two-way count) enter and exit the shopping area over a 12 hour period. 20% of those who had driven or used a tram indicated that they could have made a walking trip that day. Neville was among dozens of local residents that signed up to the trial Try Walking program in early October 2013 and has since logged walks all over Camberwell, “I have used the excuse of having three bulging discs in my back to stop me from persisting, and the [Try Walking] promotion has given me the impetus to challenge myself and to provide a greater motivation. My back pain is decreasing and I am not taking pain killers any more as my health improves”. Interim pedestrian counts have indicated an increase of between 12% and 77% in walking participation following the delivery of a number of infrastructure initiatives and a behaviour change trial. Further counts are to be completed in April following the completion of all infrastructure items and the roll out of the behaviour change initiative to the broader Camberwell Junction community. Exploring paths of detouring in relation to characteristics of street environment: An empirical case study of an old residential neighbourhood in Seoul, Korea Hanlim Seo, Yeemyung Choi, Sohyun Park It is common that people choose to take a shortest path, when moving from one spot to another. Existing researches maintain that path choice has relationships with the level of pedestrian recognition of diverse street environments, and that walking behavior is affected by variously delicate elements of street environments. While people tend to take the shortest path to walk, detouring walk, that is, voluntary walk whose total distance is longer than the shortest path reflects one’s willingness in path choices. Voluntarily detouring paths, on the other hand, represents meaningful information about preferred walking environment. 20
Collecting optimized empirical data, aiming to derive street environments and their influence on path choice, one week’s GPS data were collected in 2011 from 26 housewives living in Bukchon area, a representative historic residential neighborhood in Seoul, Korea. Housewives know all the neighborhood routes in detail, including their differences. It is hypothesized that path choice activities are conducted by preferences for the chosen streets. The site, Bukchon, has also proper condition in this regard, as it has various street environments, such as different street patterns, mixed uses, attractive historic buildings, and other aesthetic elements. Among the total walking amounts, detoured paths and shortest paths which have same departure and destinations, were analyzed by binary logistic regression model with objectively measured street attributes. The research findings show that average length of detouring is 272.6m, and that 20.8% of all routes contain detouring path more than once. This implies that the neighborhood street attributes are important environmental elements to increased walking amounts. Those attributes include densities, destinations and street network patterns. The statistical results show that Cross-network Densities, Interesting uses, Attractive buildings, Focal points, Public arts, and Greens are the positive elements, which influence to choose to walk, and the negative elements include Street width over 20m, Street with sidewalk, Slope, and Resting place. The research results confirm that detoured walking has recreational purposes, such as watching scenery and experiencing urban tissues with narrow streets and small lots. Old buildings also have relationships with diverse walking patterns. For effective improvement of walking environment, the projects using aesthetic elements, basic comfort of walking, including flat surface and enough walking space, are firstly needed. These projects require delicate conducts, responding to diverse street environments even in a same neighborhood. This research contributes to the production of knowledge about the attributes of street environment, affecting path choices with objective measures.
DIGITAL DIRECTIONS
Palais Room
Map-based community engagement and data collection for walking projects Anthony Aisenberg Traditionally, community engagement involved attending town hall meetings or filling out lengthy written forms. Neither encourages broader inclusive community participation. Despite hearing people complain about poor decisions being made on behalf of the community, the majority of us don’t do anything. We care but still aren’t part of the process. To help prove this, we conducted surveys with a random sample of approximately 100 pedestrians. We asked two questions: 1. Could you readily identify a pedestrian issue in the city? 2. If so, have you ever reported it to a council or road authority? The results were clear. 85% of people could quite easily identify a specific issue, but only 14% of them had ever reported it to a council or road authority. Critically, these results confirm that there is a vast amount of valuable knowledge and information locked within the community that isn’t being passed on to those that need it to make the best decisions. CrowdSpot’s mission is to help create quality public spaces in a social, inclusive and engaging process. By creating a platform that is visual, interactive and intuitive, CrowdSpot is trying to overcome barriers to participation by developing a new way for citizens to engage with planners of the built environment. This is achieved by partnering with organisations to crowdsource input from the community via customised online project maps. Citizens can add new spots to a project map (with text, images and links) via a configured survey form or vote, comment on and share existing spots. The result is a user generated data set that can easily be visualised, communicated and integrated with other sources.
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People increasingly understand their city in a spatial context and maps provide an incredibly engaging visual interface. The map platform is flexible as it can be used for issue reporting or sharing knowledge. Since its launch in early 2013, CrowdSpot has collaborated on various walking related projects. The Cycle Stories project with The Age newspaper crowd sourced bicycle crash stories of which many had a pedestrian focus. More recently, CrowdSpot has been used for the City Road Master Plan for the City of Melbourne and will soon launch the Greenlight Project Map for the City of Port Phillip, which seeks feedback from the community surrounding signalized crossings. Beat the street Caversham using RFID smartcard technology to activate a whole community Veronica Reynolds It has been suggested that walking is 'the perfect exercise'. It is accessible to nearly everyone, free of cost, low impact and low risk. Studies have shown it to be effective in reducing the risk of many chronic illnesses from cardiovascular disease to depression. Physical activity projects aimed at improving health are typically targeted at segments of a community. Beat the Street is a walking project that activated a whole community using the latest innovation in walking technology – the 'walk tracking unit' or 'beat box' and RFID 'smartcards'. This project builds on Intelligent Health’s Beat the Street Global School Walking Challenge which demonstrated a 20% increase in walking in students aged between 11 and 13 across four countries and 12 schools. Beat the Street Caversham however, involves the whole community and reached out to the 30,000 residents of Caversham, near Reading, UK, inviting them to take part in a competition to walk more and to help raise money for books for local schools. It was designed to meet the objectives of the UK Government’s Department of Transport Local Sustainable Transport Fund: reducing congestion, improving air quality and promoting economic growth while conveying health benefits associated with active travel and walking in particular. The project was promoted through schools, doctors’ surgeries, local business and community groups and local media. This pilot was designed as a feasibility project to ascertain how the technology could be used across a whole community and whether the concept engaged sufficient people to have an impact. The evaluation methodology consisted of analysing data generated by the RFID card swipes from individuals and an exit survey with a sample of 1300 adults, along with qualitative feedback from participants. Over three months from June to September 2013, 5651 people, of which 2627 were schoolchildren, took part in the project (approx. 20% of the population), collectively achieving an estimated total distance covered of 50,000 miles (or 80,000 kilometres). A total of 255,015 ‘valid journeys’ were logged. A ‘valid journey’ consisted of a swipe on two different beat boxes within an hour. Beat boxes were place approximately 0.3 of a mile apart. The main motivations reported by people for taking part included ‘having fun’ and ‘winning points’. In addition, people 67% reported walking more as a result of Beat the Street and 80% said they would continue with the changes they had made to the way they get around. The project is now being rolled out to the 180,000 residents of Reading, UK in May 2014, jointly funded by the Clinical Commissioning Group and local authority transport and public health teams. Similar projects are planned in six other cities in the UK and Europe. The Reading-wide project will be evaluated to measure impact on physical activity and modal choice. Preliminary results, including baseline and 3 month follow-up, will be available for Walk 21 in Sydney. www.caversham.beatthestreet.me
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