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Community Design & Public Spaces
Green spaces and public places - destinations that encourage physical activity, draw people together as a community - can play a significant role in getting people moving and improving both physical and mental public health. If these places - such as parks, trails, community gardens, landscaped streets, and public plazas - are well-designed, they create the desire and the opportunity for people to be more active.
Americans devote a majority of their time to relatively isolated, sedentary activities, such as watching television, playing video games, and surfing the Internet. The increase in hours spent at these activities correlates with an increase in obesity in the United States. A study done at the Harvard School of Public Health, for example, found a link between time spent watching television and obesity: for each hour of reduction in television-viewing time per day, the study found a 15 percent reduction in risk of obesity. Another study done by the University of Buffalo, Johns Hopkins University, the National Cancer Institute, and the Centers for Disease Control found that the incidence of obesity was highest among children who watched four or more hours of television a day and lowest among children who watched an hour or less a day. The study showed that 26% of US children watched 4 or more hours of television per day.
Social, easily accessible public places that make it pleasurable to go outdoors, talk a walk, talk to your neighbor, or play a game are important aspects of a healthy community. This section offers information on how to create healthy green spaces and public spaces in your community.
Community Design Strategies
This section of the Smart Growth Gateway is possible thanks to Carlos Rodrigues and the Rutgers University Department of Landscape Architecture. Visit its website at la56.rutgers.edu/rula/.