Neighbourhood Destination Accessibility Index: A GIS Tool for Measuring Infrastructure Support for Neighbourhood Physical Activity

Karen Witten, Jamie Pearce and Peter Day
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Karen Witten: Centre for Social and Health Outcomes Research and Evaluation (SHORE), Massey University, PO Box 6137, Wellesley Street, Auckland, New Zealand
Jamie Pearce: Centre for Research on Environment, Society and Health (CRESH), Institute of Geography, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9XP, Scotland
Peter Day: GeoHealth Laboratory, Department of Geography, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand

Environment and Planning A, 2011, vol. 43, issue 1, 205-223

Abstract: The sharp increase in obesity in recent years has prompted researchers to examine the various pathways through which urban built environments influence population-level physical activity. Walking access to everyday destinations is one such pathway. This paper describes a measure of pedestrian access to neighbourhood destinations. Using eight domains of neighbourhood destinations (education, transport, recreation, social and cultural, food retail, financial, health, and other retail) we developed a GIS-based ‘Neighbourhood Destination Accessibility Index’ (NDAI) for four New Zealand cities. We found that the intensity of neighbourhood destination opportunities varied considerably among cities and between neighbourhoods within cities. Further, access to neighbourhood infrastructural support tends to be better in more socially deprived places. Potential explanations for the sociospatial distribution of neighbourhood destinations in New Zealand cities include historical processes of residential and economic development and infrastructural investment.

Date: 2011
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envira:v:43:y:2011:i:1:p:205-223

DOI: 10.1068/a43219

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