Designing Activity-Friendly Communities

Overview

Walking is an excellent way for people to be more active and improve their health. Improving and connecting routes and destinations in communities can encourage people to walk.

Modifying the built environment makes it easier for people of all ages and abilities to walk, bike, run, or roll. For example, communities can be designed to locate residences within short walking distance of stores and public transportation. Sidewalks or paths between destinations can be designed and maintained to be well-connected, safe, and attractive. Improving walkability also helps people who bike or use wheelchairs.

Transportation policies can also create or enhance pedestrian and bicycle networks. In addition, public transportation systems can be expanded to encourage active transportation, such as walking or biking.

Making it easier for people to walk or bike can also make communities better places to live. People in neighborhoods designed to promote physical activity and active transportation are likely to spend less time in their cars and more time walking, biking, and rolling. Communities designed to increase physical activity can improve safety, increase interaction between residents, improve local economies, and reduce air pollution.

Combined approaches

To increase physical activity, community design strategies need to include at least one element from Activity-Friendly Routes and one from Everyday Destinations below.

Activity-Friendly Routes		Everyday Destinations
These may include new or improved: Street pattern design and connectivity, such as convenient, connected, and accessible streets that create many route options, shorter block lengths, and shorter crossing distances. Pedestrian infrastructure, such as sidewalk networks that can include trails, traffic calming, intersection safety, street lighting, benches, public bathrooms, shade, and landscaping. Bicycle infrastructure, such as bicycle networks that can include slow/safe streets, protected bikeways, trails, traffic calming, intersection safety, street lighting, public bathrooms, shade, and landscaping. Public transit infrastructure and access, such as transit networks that include expanded services, times, and locations and public bathrooms that are safe and easy to access.		These may include increased: Proximity to community or neighborhood destinations, such as homes, worksites, schools, parks, grocery stores, health care facilities, pharmacies, and other shops. Mixed land use such as neighborhoods that combine restaurants, offices, housing, or shops. Residential density to increase the variety of housing options in an area through compact community design and other approaches that reduce travel distances. Parks and recreational facility access, such as parks and recreational facilities close to homes.

Goals

Active People, Health Nation^SM is a CDC initiative that works with state and community-based organizations to get 27 million Americans more physically active. The initiative aims to create opportunities for active transportation and leisure time physical activity by:

• Promoting social supports such as walking groups.
• Enhancing or creating comprehensive plans to make walking a safer, more convenient, and more realistic travel option.
• Adopting Complete Streets policies for safe and convenient access to community destinations.
• Participating in Safe Routes to Schools to create safe, convenient, and fun opportunities for children to bike or walk to and from school.

More information

• Step It Up! The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Promote Walking and Walkable Communities
• Status Report of the Call to Action
• Combined Built Environment Features Help Communities Get Active
• Physical Activity Guidelines, 2^nd edition
• Health Benefits of Physical Activity
• CDC's Designing and Building Healthy Places (coming soon)

Want additional tips and resources to be active?
Learn about Active People, Healthy Nation^SM, CDC’s national initiative to help people be more physically active.