Emily Talen

Theoretical approaches to the promotion of physical activity: Forging a transdisciplinary paradigm

BACKGROUND Research in the physical activity promotion arena has focused on the application of theoretical perspectives aimed primarily at personal levels of understanding and analysis. The investigation of such theories has provided some insights related to potentially useful mediators of physical activity behavior. However, to continue to expand this field, new perspectives on personal-level theories, in addition to the exploration of more macro-level conceptual perspectives, are required. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this article is to: (1) briefly review the current strengths and limitations of the personal-level, physical activity-theory literature; and (2) introduce concepts and perspectives from other fields, including the social-ecology and urban-planning fields, of potential relevance to the physical activity arena. METHOD We provide an overview of potentially relevant theoretical perspectives aimed at different levels of understanding and analysis, from the personal level through the broader-scale meso- and macro-environmental perspectives. In addition, we suggest initial steps to take in developing a transdisciplinary paradigm encompassing all such levels of analysis and investigation. CONCLUSIONS Given the scope of the physical inactivity epidemic facing the U.S. population currently and in the future, methods and approaches that integrate theory and concepts across a broader group of disciplines will be increasingly necessary.

Visualizing Fairness: Equity Maps for Planners

Abstract The achievement of equity in the distribution of public resources is a goal of paramount importance to planners. Equitable distribution entails locating resources or facilities so that as many different spatially defined social groups as possible benefit—i. e. have access. For planning purposes, what is of paramount importance is that planners and also their constituents understand what distributional principles underlie any geographic arrangement of public resources. This paper presents a prototype method with which planners can readily generate and evaluate various “equity maps” of resource distribution. The method exploits the visualization capabilities of GIS, which allow interactive exploration of the spatial relationships between public facilities and socioeconomic characteristics.

The Social Goals of New Urbanism

Abstract New Urbanism is most often appraised in terms of its physical design, while analysis of its social goals is limited to unsubstantiated claims about New Urbanists’ desire to engage in social engineering. This article presents the results of an evaluation of the explicit, stated link between the physical planning proposals of New Urbanism and three types of social goals: community, social equity, and the common good. The analysis is based on the Charter of the New Urbanism, which describes each core principle in detail. Of the 27 principles, 8 are related to equity, while 19 are connected to promoting the common good. None of the principles is explicitly related to community, although notions of community are often invoked for descriptive purposes. It is hoped that these results will help clarify the discussion of the relationship between physical planning and social goals in the context of New Urbanism.

NEIGHBORHOODS AS SERVICE PROVIDERS: A METHODOLOGY FOR EVALUATING PEDESTRIAN ACCESS

Research on neighborhoods is dominated by a focus on the social aspects of neighborhood life. The ability of neighborhoods to function as service providers is a critical and understudied aspect of neighborhood research. This paper offers a methodological contribution of the analysis of neighborhoods as service providers. Provision of services is defined in terms of accessibility, or the spatial proximities between residents and the facilities. Because the focus is on neighborhoods, access is defined on the basis of the pedestrian rather than the automobile. In addition, the needs of the neighborhood population are considered. A case study of Portland, Oregon, is used to demonstrate how an evaluation of pedestrian access could be conducted at the neighborhood scale.

Legalizing Smart Growth: An Empirical Study of Land Use Regulation in Illinois

There is widespread agreement that metropolitan growth should be channeled into compact, walkable developments. New growth should include diverse housing types and mixed land uses and support pedestrian access and public transit. This article investigates how local government regulation has responded to this trend. Local development regulation is empirically examined by analyzing how much “smart growth” policies are implemented at the local level and investigating how much regulatory cultures prevent compact, pedestrian-oriented development. A typology of the kinds of local regulation used to promote smart growth is first established. Interregulatory consistency is also investigated—to what degree are cities and counties adopting frameworks consistent with smart growth? The types of developments implemented by local zoning regulations are then quantified. Results from a large-scale sample show that local jurisdictions in Illinois employ relatively low levels of smart growth-related prescriptive policies, and regulations generally run counter to smart growth development ideals.

Design That Enables Diversity: The Complications of a Planning Ideal

This article reviews the literature on place diversity and the quest to use design to promote social and economic mix in human settlements. The article fits together a large literature on the subject of the interrelationship between diversity and place and explores how diversity could be enabled within the context of the city-planning profession. It argues that the linkage between city planning—defined in its traditional sense as a profession concerned with the design of cities—and place diversity is understudied. Four distinct though interrelated theoretical bases for diversity are discussed: place vitality, economic health, social equity, and sustainability. The article argues that the promotion of place diversity requires focused effort on the part of planners, and that design-based strategies are an appropriate part of that effort.

Beyond Relativism Reclaiming the Search for Good City Form

This article argues that the search for a theory of good city form should be given a more prominent place in planning theory alongside theories of planning as a process. The professional practice of city and regional planning requires well-validated, durable criteria for successful outcomes. Fortunately, many recent developments in philosophy, science, political theory, and the arts challenge the postmodern relativism that has deflected attention away from normative theory toward procedural issues. The authors argue that planners should take advantage of these new ideas and launch a renewed quest for the elements of good city form.

The Problem with Community in Planning

As an element of planning practice, the notion of “ community” is not well thought out. The quest for community in the realm of planning praxis provokes an age-old debate, which, given the current surge of interest in community, needs to be revisited and reassessed. In this article, the author argues that planners need to detach themselves from the idea that physical planning can create a “sense of community.” The integration of the notion of community and planning is analyzed in three parts. The author first assesses how planning practice currently incorporates the notion of community. Included is an empirical analysis of neighborhood planning documents from sixteen U.S. cities. Second, she discusses why the notion of attempting to build community in planning is problematic, and she presents four fundamental reasons why this is the case. Finally, she outlines how the notion of community in planning could be used more appropriately.

School, Community, and Spatial Equity: An Empirical Investigation of Access to Elementary Schools in West Virginia

To date, only a handful of studies have empirically investigated the relationship between school locations and their constituencies—i.e., the accessibility of schools. This article makes a contribution by presenting an in-depth case study of school accessibility in three counties in West Virginia. The study utilizes an extensive dataset of distances between students and eighty-four elementary school locations. The study examines whether or not the distribution of travel cost between resident locations (blocks) and schools is equitable on the basis of the density of resident populations and the socioeconomic status (SES) of resident populations. The article also carries the analysis one step further, investigating the effect of access on student achievement. The findings for the first hypothesis indicated that spatial inequities in access to school were substantial and varied by county and school zone. In terms of the relationship between SES and access to schools, results were inconclusive and could be described in the familiar “unpatterned inequality” paradigm supported by a great deal of accessibility research. The analysis involving student achievement showed that distance to school had a significant and inversely related effect on third-grade test scores. The article concludes by arguing that these exploratory initial findings should be expanded upon in future geography-based studies. First, the finding that significant clusters of poor accessibility indeed exist should be investigated vis-à-vis the implicit assumption in school consolidation planning that school catchment areas conform to some kind of higher rational principle. Second, the findings point to a need for more research regarding the import of socioeconomic status in school accessibility. Finally, the results indicate that access is negatively associated with achievement, but that relationship needs to be scrutinized in greater detail.

Measuring Urbanism: Issues in Smart Growth Research

This paper explores the measurement issues that arise in conducting smart growth research. Such research is largely dependent on the quantitative measurement of urban and suburban phenomena, but this measurement varies widely. Data sources, geographic scales, aggregation rules, and spatial resolution can all vary, and all have a significant effect on research outcomes. The paper presents an overview of the issues involved in urban measurement, exploring three interrelated aspects of urban study-the measurement, evaluation, and representation of urban form. The paper presents a framework of the conceptual differences and practical implications. This serves as background to a call for new measurement approaches that would more appropriately reflect the material aspects of cities.