Research Article
Walking and Proximity to the Urban Growth Boundary and Central Business District

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2014.05.008Get rights and content

Background

Planners have relied on the urban development boundary (UDB)/urban growth boundary (UGB) and central business district (CBD) to encourage contiguous urban development and conserve infrastructure. However, no studies have specifically examined the relationship between proximity to the UDB/UGB and CBD and walking behavior.

Purpose

To examine the relationship between UDB and CBD distance and walking in a sample of recent Cuban immigrants, who report little choice in where they live after arrival to the U.S.

Methods

Data were collected in 2008–2010 from 391 healthy, recent Cuban immigrants recruited and assessed within 90 days of arrival to the U.S. who resided throughout Miami–Dade County FL. Analyses in 2012–2013 examined the relationship between UDB and CBD distances for each participant’s residential address and purposive walking, controlling for key sociodemographics. Follow-up analyses examined whether Walk Score®, a built-environment walkability metric based on distance to amenities such as stores and parks, mediated the relationship between purposive walking and each of UDB and CBD distance.

Results

Each one-mile increase in distance from the UDB corresponded to an 11% increase in the number of minutes of purposive walking, whereas each one-mile increase from the CBD corresponded to a 5% decrease in the amount of purposive walking. Moreover, Walk Score mediated the relationship between walking and each of UDB and CBD distance.

Conclusions

Given the lack of walking and walkable destinations observed in proximity to the UDB/UGB boundary, a sprawl repair approach could be implemented, which strategically introduces mixed-use zoning to encourage walking throughout the boundary’s zone.

Introduction

Planners have relied on the urban development boundary, or urban growth boundary, (UDB/UGB) to encourage contiguous urban development and conserve infrastructure.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Proximity to the UGB/UDB boundary typically indicates development that is single use, sprawling, and isolated,1, 6, 7, 8 the opposite of the central business district (CBD), which is characterized by mixed-use neighborhoods with high connectivity.9, 10, 11 If it could be shown that the proximate environment of the UGB/UDB boundary demonstrates deleterious health impacts, then policy planners using the tool of the UGB/UDB to contain growth may reconsider zoning, density, and financial incentives that encourage any development that occurs at the boundary to manifest neighborhood characteristics associated with beneficial health impacts.12, 13, 14 However, no peer-reviewed studies have specifically examined the relationship between either proximity to a UDB or a CBD and residents’ walking behavior.

Recent Cuban immigrants are a population who overwhelmingly reported little choice in their selection of built environments,15 thus addressing selection bias, which occurs in many built-environment studies.15, 16, 17, 18 When these immigrants arrive in the U.S., a population generally accustomed to physical activity19, 20 is exposed to a variety of neighborhood walkability conditions. This study investigates the relationship between UDB and CBD distance and recent Cuban immigrants’ purposive or utilitarian walking.21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 Walk Score®, a built-environment walkability metric assessing proximity to amenities such as parks and stores,27 was shown to be related to purposive walking in the current sample.15 The present study assesses whether Walk Score mediates the relationship between UDB or CBD distance and purposive walking.

Section snippets

Study Population

Data were collected as part of the Cuban Health Study, a population-based, prospective cohort study.15 Analyses (2012–2013) utilized data from the baseline assessment (2008–2010).

Study Setting

Participants resided throughout Miami–Dade County FL, which encompasses diverse built environments, with Walk Scores ranging from 2 to 98 on a scale of 0–100.15 The UDB is a zoning mechanism delimiting the extent of urban and agricultural expansion within Miami–Dade County to protect Everglades National Park (Figure 1).

Results

Table 1 presents summary statistics for the study sample. Table 2 presents the results of the regression analyses. For each one-mile increase in distance from the UDB, there was a significant 11% increase in the number of minutes of purposive walking (0.045 log10-minutes), and for each one-mile increase in distance from the CBD, there was a significant 5% decrease in the number of minutes of purposive walking (–0.023 log10-minutes).

Planned post hoc analyses included a path model that

Discussion

For a sample of recent Cuban immigrants, living a greater distance from the Miami–Dade County UDB1 and in proximity to the CBD28 were associated with greater amounts of purposive walking. Given that Walk Score27 mediated the relationship of walking to both UDB and CBD distance, living closer to the CBD and further from the UDB may be associated with less urban sprawl and more destinations for walking.

This is the first study to find relationships between both UDB and CBD distance and walking

Acknowledgments

The work presented in this paper was supported by a research grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (Grant No. 1R01-DK-074687, J. Szapocznik, PI; T. Perrino, Project Director), and a grant from the National Center for Advancement of Translational Sciences (Grant No. 1UL1TR000460, J. Szapocznik, Principal Investigator).

Professor Joanna Lombard is a licensed architect and public speaker on New Urbanism, and the results of this study may lead to financial

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