Designing healthy communities: Awalkability analysis of LEED-ND

Abstract

Prevailing city design in many countries has created sedentary societies that depend on automobile use. Consequently, architects, urban designers, and land planners have developed new urban design theories, which have beenincorporated into the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND)certification system. The LEED-ND includes design elements that improve human well-being by facilitating walking and biking, a concept known as walkability.Despite these positive developments, relevant research findings from other fields of study have not been fully integrated into the LEED-ND.According to Zuniga-Teran (2015), relevant walkability research findings from multipled isciplines were organized into a walkability framework (WF) that organizes design elements related to physical activity into nine categories, namely, connectivity, land use, density, traffic safety, surveillance, parking, experience, greenspace, and community. In this study, we analyze walkability in the LEED-ND through the lens of the nine WF categories. Through quantitative andq ualitative analyses, we identify gaps and strengths in the LEED-ND and propose potential enhancements to this certification system that reflects what is known about enhancing walkability more comprehensively through neighborhood designan alysis. This work seeks to facilitate the translation of research into practice, which can ultimately lead to more active and healthier societies.

Keywords

Walkability / LEED-ND / Physicalactivity / Urban design / Well-being / Built environment

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2016 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).