Land Use and Built Environment

This paper explores the spatial and temporal patterns of green building in the commercial and institutional sectors in the US. While these buildings are becoming more commonplace, they have yet to reach a critical mass to affect the entire construction industry. Given the potential for green building practices to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, the paper seeks to understand the geography of green building. Using multiple metrics, it explains the patterning of geography of LEED and Energy Star certified buildings in the US. Strong evidence is found of clustering at the...

We investigated whether moving to neighborhoods with closer proximity of destinations and greater street connectivity was associated with more walking, a greater probability of meeting the “Every Body Walk!” campaign goals (≥ 150 minutes/week of walking), and reductions in body mass index (BMI). We linked longitudinal data from 701 participants, who moved between 2 waves of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (2004–2012), to a neighborhood walkability measure (Street Smart Walk Score) for each residential location. We used fixed-effects models to estimate if changes in walkability...

To examine longitudinal associations of the neighborhood built environment with objectively measured body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) in a geographically and racial/ethnically diverse group of adults. This study used data from 5,506 adult participants in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, aged 45-84 years in 2000 (baseline). BMI and WC were assessed at baseline and four follow-up visits (median follow-up 9.1 years). Time-varying built environment measures (population density, land-use, destinations, bus access, and street characteristics) were created using...

We examined the influence of the built environment on pedestrian route selection among adolescent girls. Portable global positioning system units, accelerometers, and travel diaries were used to identify the origin, destination, and walking routes of girls in San Diego, California, and Minneapolis, Minnesota. We completed an inventory of the built environment on every street segment to measure the characteristics of routes taken and not taken. Route-level variables covering four key conceptual built environment domains (Aesthetics, Destinations, Functionality, and Safety) were used...