A TIME-SERIES ANALYSIS ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT ON PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVELS

Abstract

 Though many researches have already indicated that physical activity such as walking is important to reduce the risk of disease related lifestyle. Especially in Europe and the United States, the built environment is recognized as key factors in promoting physical activity. However it is not quantitatively clear that the relation between them. In this study, we analyzed the relation between the built environment of residential zoning scale and physical activity levels by the analysis using the data of 40 cities from 1987 to 2005.
 We made it clear that the higher convenience of public transportation and commercial in a residential area is, the higher the physical activity levels is regardless of the location in the city. We also clarified that the characteristics of the residential zone are important factors to increase physical activity levels compared with personal attributes from the causal structural model. As well as the population density, in recent years, the accessibility to railway stations and bus stops and the frequency of the public transportation services had even more significant associations with physical activity levels of individuals.