www.idgo.ac.uk www.openspace.eca.ac.uk
Catherine MillingtonSusana AlvesCatharine Ward ThompsonAffonso ZuinPeter Aspinall
What is the impact of residential street environments on active lifestyles for older
people?
OPENspace Research Centre,Edinburgh College of Art
Inclusive Design for Getting OutdoorsConsortium Projects
www.idgo.ac.uk
Engineering and Physical Science Research Council
EQUAL Programme Extending Quality Life for older and disabled people
I N C L U S I V E D E S I G N F O R G E T T I N G O U T D O O R S
Edinburgh College of Art with Heriot-Watt and Edinburgh Universities
Catharine Ward Thompson, Peter Aspinall, Archie Young, Anna Orme, Susana Alves, Catherine Millington, Affonso Zuin
Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development, Oxford Brookes University
Elizabeth Burton, Lynne Mitchell, Nicola Dempsey, Amanda Griffin
SURFACE Inclusive Design Research Centre and Centre for Rehabilitation and Human Performance
Research, University of SalfordMarcus Ormerod, Rita Newton, Christopher Nester,
Laurence Kenney, David Howard, Sibylle Thies, Hamish MacLennan, Faruk Mohammad
I’DGO TOO Researchers
I N C L U S I V E D E S I G N F O R G E T T I N G O U T D O O R S 3
Do Home Zones result in environments where older people:
• Go outside more often?• Spend more time outside in the local environment? • Have better social networks?• Have a better quality of life?
Project aims & objectives
Home Zones & Shared Space Streets
I N C L U S I V E D E S I G N F O R G E T T I N G O U T D O O R S 5
• Home zones (originating in the Netherlands as ‘woornerf’) are residential streets where pedestrians & vehicles share the whole of the road space safely, & on equal terms, & where quality of life takes precedence over ease of traffic movement.
• The objective is to extend the benefits of slow traffic speeds within residential areas to give priority to non motorised traffic.
• Residents are encouraged to use streets in different ways, e.g. for social activities and play.
Common Components of HZ
I N C L U S I V E D E S I G N F O R G E T T I N G O U T D O O R S 6
• Traditional forms of traffic calming (e.g. signage, road humps) are not used
• Shared space demarcated by changes to road surfacing
• Improved footpaths & cycleways• Planting (e.g. shrubs, trees) to
‘green’ the environment, provide shelter & encourage people to linger
• Changes to street lighting to improve perceptions of personal safety
Research Design
• Longitudinal study before & after Home Zone or shared space principles are implemented
• People 65 years & older residing in the UK• Study sites:
• Most of the sites are in areas of high multiple deprivation.
• 8 shared space project sites in England & Wales (Sustrans ‘DIY Streets’) & Edinburgh new build HZ, plus matching control sites
I N C L U S I V E D E S I G N F O R G E T T I N G O U T D O O R S 7
DIY: Castle St - Port
Talbot
DIY: Brooke/Evering Rd -
London
Control: Geldeston Rd - London Control: Crown St - Port
Talbot
Structured interviewsHealthQoL Perceptions of the physical environmentFrequency of going outdoors
Physical activityMeasured through the use of an accelerometer and activity diary for the period of one week
Behavioural observationsSystematically observe activity patterns in streets
Street auditsUsed to map out the physical features of streets
Data Collection Methods
I N C L U S I V E D E S I G N F O R G E T T I N G O U T D O O R S 9
Physical activity Activity diaries & Accelerometers
I N C L U S I V E D E S I G N F O R G E T T I N G O U T D O O R S 10
Physical activity counts per minute for one day from accelerometer data collected from a participant
09:0009:4210:2411:0611:4812:3013:1213:5414:3615:1816:0016:4217:2418:0618:4819:3020:1220:5421:3622:1823:0023:420
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
Act
ivity
(cou
nts
per m
inut
e)
Moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA).Numbers indicate consecutive mins MVPA.
4
1 11
1
5 54
Leaves house at 10:00. Goes to post office walking & by bus & then to Guild by bus. Returns home 16:10
Leaves house at 18:05. Goes dancing. Gets there by walking & by bus. Returns home 21:15
Time period outside house
Key
MVPA= Moderate to vigorous physical activity, defined using 1951 counts per min as cut-off point (Freedson et al.,1998)
These bouts of MVPA occur shortly after participant leaves the house & shortly before returning - possibly coinciding with walking to & from bus stop
Behaviour Observations• 30 minutes in the morning (9:30-10:00 AM) and afternoon (4:30-5:00 PM) • Two days of the week (excluding Fridays & weekend)• DIY & Control streets. • In long streets (>1 km), observations were undertaken at either end of the
street; in shorter streets just one location.
The following were recorded for each person observed in a 30 minute period:
• Age• Gender • Mobility • Social interaction• Physical activity
I N C L U S I V E D E S I G N F O R G E T T I N G O U T D O O R S 12
• More people PM than AM observations
• High variability between observation sessions
• Highest number of people
observed in London Brooke/Evering Control 2
Number of people per observation
I N C L U S I V E D E S I G N F O R G E T T I N G O U T D O O R S 14
• Dominant age group is young adults (20-40yrs)
• Higher frequency of people aged 65+ AM than PM
• Very few people aged 65+ • More children, teenagers & young adults
PM than AM
Age group & time of day
SummaryPhysical activity
• Experiential and objective measurements• Linked activity diary & accelerometer data to identify
level of physical activity with type of activity when participant is outdoors
I N C L U S I V E D E S I G N F O R G E T T I N G O U T D O O R S 16
SummaryBehaviour observations
• Higher frequency of people observed during PM than AM sessions
• Young adults are the dominant age group• Approx 60% alone & 30% talking to another person• Approx 70% walking & 10% cycling • More people where high traffic, but more interaction
between people where light or medium traffic
I N C L U S I V E D E S I G N F O R G E T T I N G O U T D O O R S 17
What are we doing next?
• Continue data analysis (Interviews & complete analysis of accelerometers & activity diaries)
• Post-intervention data collection
• Compare before & after HZ developed
I N C L U S I V E D E S I G N F O R G E T T I N G O U T D O O R S 18
References
• Freedson, P. S., Melanson, E., Sirard, J. (1998). Calibration of the computer science and applications, Inc. accelerometer. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 30(5), 777-781.
• Wojtek, J. et. al. (2009). Exercise and physical activity for older adults. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 1510-1530.
• Appleyard, D. (1981). Livable streets. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Hart, J. (2008). Driven to Excess: Impacts of motor vehicle traffic on residential quality of life in Bristol, UK. MSc Transport Planning. University of the West of England, Bristol.
I N C L U S I V E D E S I G N F O R G E T T I N G O U T D O O R S 19
Websites
I N C L U S I V E D E S I G N F O R G E T T I N G O U T D O O R S
Visit our website www.openspace.eca.ac.uk
I’DGOwww.idgo.ac.uk
Sustrans DIY streetswww.sustrans.org.uk/diystreets
