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5 July 2012, 6.36am EST

Fat of the land: how urban design can help curb obesity

OBESE NATION: It’s time to admit it – Australia is becoming an obese nation. This series looks at how this has happened and more importantly, what we can do to stop the obesity epidemic. Here Billie Giles-Corti and Carolyn Whitzman discuss ways to change our obesogenic environment through urban design…

Authors

Billie Giles-Corti

Professor of Health Promotion & Director McCaughey VicHealth Centre at University of Melbourne
Carolyn Whitzman

Associate Professor of Urban Planning at University of Melbourne

Disclosure Statement

Billie Giles-Corti receives funding from the NHMRC and Australian Urban Infrastructure Network. Professor Giles-Corti is a Fellow of the Public Health Association of Australia.

Carolyn Whitzman receives funding from Australian Urban Infrastructure Network and is a member of the Planning Institute of Australia.

Provides funding as a Founding Partner of The Conversation.
unimelb.edu.au

Bv7b449y-1341206020 — People living in the suburban sprawl walk less, drive more, and spend more time in sedentary pursuits. katie chao and ben muessig/Flickr

OBESE NATION: It’s time to admit it – Australia is becoming an obese nation. This series looks at how this has happened and more importantly, what we can do to stop the obesity epidemic.

Here Billie Giles-Corti and Carolyn Whitzman discuss ways to change our obesogenic environment through urban design while Jo Salmon looks at the role physical activity and exercise play in healthy lifestyles.

Compared with our grandparents, feeding, clothing, and entertaining ourselves has never been easier: a one-stop weekly shopping centre trip in a car, facilitated by convenient parking and light-weight maneuverable shopping trolleys that allow us to whiz around the supermarket with ease.

In fact, these days people don’t even need to leave home to do their food shopping, order takeaway food, bank or pay bills, shop for clothing or household goods, “visit” with their friends, read the newspaper or amuse themselves. Using the internet or telephone, activities that used to involve some level of activity or a short walk, can be done with “anywhere, anytime” convenience.

The internet and telephone have made life easy but it’s not all good news. teoruiz/Flickr

If we couple this lifestyle of convenience with a media environment that advertises and provides an attractive array of easily-accessed, low-cost and tasty, high-fat, high-sugar foods – it’s not surprising that obesity is such a huge problem.

Australia is one of the global leaders in the obesity epidemic, with two-thirds of Australian adults and a quarter of Australian children, overweight or obese. Alarm bells are ringing in health circles about the impact this will have on all the major preventable diseases: type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. These diseases will get worse unless we can help people maintain a consistent belt size throughout their life.

Poor diet, lack of physical activity and other sedentary behaviours are the main culprits in the obesity epidemic. People choose how active they are and what they eat. But their local environments – their neighbourhood, local parks and streets, as well as their homes, workplaces and schools – provide opportunities and barriers that affect those choices.

There’s widespread agreement that we’ve created obesogenic environments that encourage both inactivity and overeating. So what can be done about it?

People are more likely to walk and cycle if they live in safe, compact, pedestrian-friendly neighbourhoods. Marionzetta/Flickr

For a start, we could improve neighbourhood design to get people out of their cars and onto the streets. People are more likely to walk and cycle if they live in safe, compact, pedestrian-friendly neighbourhoods characterised by connected street networks, access to nearby destinations such as shops and parks, mixed uses of building such as housing above shops, and high population density.

People living in the suburban sprawl walk less, drive more, and spend more time in sedentary pursuits, such as watching television or cruising on the internet, than those living in compact, pedestrian-friendly neighbourhoods. We need to plan services in new communities so that schools, shops, public transport, and parks arrive at the same time as housing – so that residents can develop good walking, cycling and public transport habits from the outset.

At the same time, we need to share the resources available in established suburbs closer to the city where there’s already good access to parks, jobs, and public transport. This means increasing the number of people who live in inner-city suburbs and giving more people access to existing shops and services.

We also need to think about quality and access to open space: parks, ovals, play grounds, and school grounds. The way open space is designed gives people cues about how it is to be used – is this open space simply for vandals and hoons, or does it say to local residents (regardless of age), “this space is open for active business, come and join in”?

The way open space is designed gives people cues about how it is to be used. Grant MacDonald

Similarly, we need to make the most of what’s called “blue space” – waterways, such as creeks, lakes, rivers and beach fronts. We know that in wealthy areas, blue spaces are opened up and invite the public to be active with walking and cycling paths, but is this true in lower-income areas?

There’s growing evidence that people who drive long distances to work are more likely to gain weight. Reducing commute times would not only be good for the environment, it would also be good for our waistlines – particularly if it involved walking or cycling to rapid public transport. This requires the right types of jobs to be available locally – what type of local business activation models could assist?

We need to give people choices so that healthy options are easy to pick – in neighbourhoods, schools and workplaces. Policies ensuring there’s plenty of fruit, water, and healthy take-away food – not just high-fat, high-salt, high-sugar alternatives – give people the opportunity to make healthier choices.

Providing access to community garden spaces encourages children and adults to develop a love of fresh food has the potential to have a positive impact on our waistlines too.

Community gardens encourage people to develop a love of fresh food. RDPixelShop/Flickr

And we need to think carefully, as a community, about how happy we are about the way unhealthy food is marketed and actively promoted so readily to children and young people. This normalises unhealthy food choices. We may need restrictions on the marketing of fast food to children in the mass media, at school and at sporting events.

These are choices to be made not only by individuals and families, but also by society. Planning and policy interventions are crucial to correct a serious market failure that is promoting unhealthy lifestyles, at the expense of the health and well-being of the nation and the future life expectancy of our children.

We have choices to make as a society. We know what we prefer – how about you?

This is part fourteen of our series Obese Nation. To read the other instalments, follow the links below:

Part one: Mapping Australia’s collective weight gain

Part two: Explainer: overweight, obese, BMI – what does it all mean?

Part three: Explainer: how does excess weight cause disease?

Part four: Recipe for disaster: creating a food supply to suit the appetite

Part five: What’s economic growth got to do with expanding waistlines?

Part six: Preventing weight gain: the dilemma of effective regulation

Part seven: Filling the regulatory gap in chronic disease prevention

Part eight: Why a fat tax is not enough to tackle the obesity problem

Part nine: Education, wealth and the place you live can affect your weight

Part ten: Innovative strat egies needed to address Indigenous obesity

Part eleven: Two books, one big issue: Why Calories Count and Weighing In

Part twelve: Putting health at the heart of sustainability policy

Part thirteen: Want to stop the obesity epidemic? Let’s get moving

Part fifteen: Industry-sponsored self-regulation: it’s just not cricket

Part sixteen: Regulation and legislation as tools in the battle against obesity

Articles also by These Authors

28 September 2011 Death by suburban sprawl: better urban planning will combat sedentary lifestyles

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20 Comments sorted by

Margo Saunders

Public Health Policy Researcher

What does and does not make a difference in terms of obesity and the built environment is a complex issue. Importantly, it has been the subject of recent findings from research in Canada, the UK and elsewhere that cast doubt on the sorts of simplistic relationships and, dare I say, 'urban myths', perpetuated through articles like this. Changes in food consumption have been a far greater cause of obesity than changes in physical activity, and patterns of physical activity of the sort alluded to here are also questionable, with many 'suburbs' being far more conducive to healthy outdoor pursuits than denser, 'compact' urban areas. However -- and this is a big 'however' -- it is essential to consider (as analysts such as Alan Davies in Crikey's 'The Urbanist' blog have done) research which suggests that patterns of behaviour are more a matter of who lives where rather than the form of the built environment.

11 months ago report
1. Paul Richards
  
  strategic foresight
  
  In reply to Margo Saunders
  
  Margo - I appreciate your points, but the principles of who lives where is wound around many issues in the Urbanist blog.
  
  Industrialised food, breast feeding, child care, human gut flora, transport, lifestyle, abundance, form based building codes, new urbanism, all come together under this messy topic of obesity epidemic.
  
  To imply humanising cites does not cover a vast area of issues contributing to the epidemic worldwide, is naive. It is our very culture that conspires against us, and we…
  Read more
  
  Margo - I appreciate your points, but the principles of who lives where is wound around many issues in the Urbanist blog.
  
  Industrialised food, breast feeding, child care, human gut flora, transport, lifestyle, abundance, form based building codes, new urbanism, all come together under this messy topic of obesity epidemic.
  
  To imply humanising cites does not cover a vast area of issues contributing to the epidemic worldwide, is naive. It is our very culture that conspires against us, and we need to change many areas.
  
  Humanising the urban environment covers our very attitude and culture sold out to a corporate need for exponential growth. Yes we have experts in every field claiming to have solutions, but the issues are far wider than just specialist areas, with partial answers.
  
  Re humanising our cites, is a goal, not a myth, a direction, not a falsehood misdirected at solving human health.
  
  Besides we have models in Europe, e.g. Denmark, Copenhagen that have proven statistics to verify the direction is right.
  
  11 months ago report
2. Margo Saunders
  
  Public Health Policy Researcher
  
  In reply to Paul Richards
  
  I guess there are suburbs and there are suburbs, just as there are urban areas & urban areas. Various public health colleagues with whom I have spoken have confirmed their experience (like mine) of healthy suburban life and relatively unhealthy city life. It defies common sense and much experience that backyards and pleasant, safe, open spaces which invite walking and other outdoor activities, are somehow a problem. Life in the suburbs substantially pre-dates the obesity crisis, and I despair at…
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  I guess there are suburbs and there are suburbs, just as there are urban areas & urban areas. Various public health colleagues with whom I have spoken have confirmed their experience (like mine) of healthy suburban life and relatively unhealthy city life. It defies common sense and much experience that backyards and pleasant, safe, open spaces which invite walking and other outdoor activities, are somehow a problem. Life in the suburbs substantially pre-dates the obesity crisis, and I despair at the extent to which public health advocates have become sucked in by the pro-density lobby. The most unhealthy environment in which I have lived was an apartment block in the Washington DC area: zero social capital, zero green space, and an unpleasant trip into DC on public transport. Healthiest? Small river-side village in the UK, pop: 3500,10 min bus ride from 'town'. I would certainly endorse Gil's view about smaller regional towns, especially that's 'satellite cities' which offer the lifestyle benefits of a small town with access to a larger city, when required.
  What we do have, without a doubt, are mixed signals which include, on the one hand, government rhetoric about sustainability and walkability while, on the other hand, encouraging major commercial discount big-box fringe developments to which people drive to load up on vast amounts of imported products and which lead to the demise of local shops. You really can't ignore how people's priorities have driven much of this: things like saving money and time have been key factors in everything from the lack of 'proper' cooking facilities in many new apartments, to the preference for larger shops where goods are cheaper and the opening hours are longer. There are practical issues, too: I don't know who all these walkers and cyclists are, but you can't carry a lot home from the shops that way, most of us wouldn't be walking around after dark or in the cold (I'm in Canberra) and when your life is complicated by having to do multi-stop trips on the way to and from work, getting around as quickly and as conveniently as possible becomes paramount.
  
  11 months ago report
3. Colin MacGillivray
  
  Retired architect
  
  In reply to Margo Saunders
  
  My personal experience of very high density living, Singapore, is that one still sits in a bus or train or taxi rather than one's own car. One might walk a few hundred metres more linking different vehicles than using one's own transport but the effect on obesity is surely minimal. As Margo implies to get less obese eat less.
  
  11 months ago report
4. Paul Richards
  
  strategic foresight
  
  In reply to Margo Saunders
  
  Margo S - Some of those negative high density examples you sight are relics of the 1930s architectural model. These where originally designed to replace 'form based building' modeled in Europe that operated with approximately one kilometre radius to centrally supply, food markets, home supplies, restaurants, cafes, clothing, hardware, medical and government services. A time when a 'Street' was meant for people became places for trucks and cars, no longer distinguishable from transport 'Roads…
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  Margo S - Some of those negative high density examples you sight are relics of the 1930s architectural model. These where originally designed to replace 'form based building' modeled in Europe that operated with approximately one kilometre radius to centrally supply, food markets, home supplies, restaurants, cafes, clothing, hardware, medical and government services. A time when a 'Street' was meant for people became places for trucks and cars, no longer distinguishable from transport 'Roads'.
  
  Their replacement led to a doubling and tripling of distances travelled, urban estate sizes grew, school sizes increased, industrial and logistics supply areas developed. Everything was super scaled, and it demanded people use buses, trucks and vehicles all in the name of economies of scale and profit.
  
  The design of shopping malls was to encourage vehicle use and lobbied for by the big three automakers in the US. At the same time they lobbied to replace trains and light rail with petrol driven buses and trucks. In support of this industry the US government during the 1930s ripped up thousands of miles of rail and rolled out the national freeway/highway network. Hailing it as essential infrastructure for exponential growth, now it is in need of vast amounts of maintenance and resources America just does not have to upgrade.
  
  Looking back with awareness it is obvious automaker profit came at the cost of humanised cites across America. We foolishly followed the US, built the shopping centres, highways, freeways and subsidised the motor industry for billions since the 1950s. The result is up two hours commute for large numbers of the population, with whole families rarely setting foot in their urban areas because of time constraints commuting. Children dropped at schools instead of walking or cycling. Time constraints of commuting effect choices for shopping and cooking meals.
  
  In America the trend is reversing, density is increasing with form based codes being adopted, developing new town planning with humanising in mind. With younger families on the outer areas 500m radius able to walk to cycle to school on footpaths and older members of the community living central to business, medical services and community facilities.
  
  After all large cities can be efficient, humanised and highly successful communities if designed correctly around people not cars. Form based building codes with real social capital values designed in. We do have some isolated examples here, Joondalup, North Fremantle south to Cockburn in WA, there others.
  
  As for your concern for multiple trips to shops the answer is cycling, I have included links to demonstrate how Dutch cites run. Remembering they have reached a peak of 43% year round cycle commuter numbers as of December 2011, replacing the 37% still often seen. It snows in the Netherlands, rivers and lakes freeze, it is far colder than Canberra and cycling to work is done all year. The population is healthier, with less cardiovascular diseases and their general fitness exceeds ours dramatically.
  
  There is a case for pro density form based building. However it needs design with humans in mind. Based on our form in US, UK and Australia over the last fifty years of motor vehicle dominance, I can see why you are sceptical of the pro-density lobby. I recommend listening to one of Gan Gehl's lectures and feel it may help raise your awareness, I once carried your values on this issue.
  
  One day soon we may see the 'mixed signals' as you call them blended into humanised cites, awareness is the key.
  
  How to carry home plenty of shopping on a bike;
  http://goo.gl/JHjIv
  
  Smart businesses help;
  http://goo.gl/yURGR
  
  Cycling in winter;
  http://goo.gl/SJ1OB
  
  Jan Gehl is in my playlist at youtube;
  http://goo.gl/urcuU
  
  An ideal cityscape
  http://youtu.be/DgOFYVXzEVE
  
  US reversing Urban Sprawl;
  http://youtu.be/6WMrusu7n7c
  
  Dr Peter Newman on Myths of Automobile Dependence
  http://www.worldcarfree.net/resources/freesources/ad_myths.pdf
  
  11 months ago report
5. Lorna Jarrett
  
  PhD candidate, science education; Physics teacher
  
  In reply to Paul Richards
  
  I didn't see many fat people in Amsterdam. I did see one elderly fat man on a recumbent - with crutches stowed on the back. Age, weight and disability against him and he was STILL cycling.
  
  10 months ago report
Paul Richards

strategic foresight

Good to see this issue is being highlighted again.

"We have choices to make as a society. We know what we prefer – how about you?"

I want humanised cites and the motor industry domination of our lifestyle brought to a halt. Hard to do when they lobby with total impunity in this country. I want form based architecture based on world best practices being applied in Europe, USA, Canada and isolated cities in Australia.

It was announced this week that ute and SUV sales in June appears to have…
Read more

Good to see this issue is being highlighted again.

"We have choices to make as a society. We know what we prefer – how about you?"

I want humanised cites and the motor industry domination of our lifestyle brought to a halt. Hard to do when they lobby with total impunity in this country. I want form based architecture based on world best practices being applied in Europe, USA, Canada and isolated cities in Australia.

It was announced this week that ute and SUV sales in June appears to have propelled the Australian motor vehicle industry to its biggest sales month in its 100-plus-year history. This is despite the GFC and justification for sacking of workers in these industries. Clearly the 'story' of hard times is contradicting the sales figures and been used as an excuse to automate production.

I am not against motor vehicles, just their domination of our life's at the expense of family time, health, quality of life, economic success and most of all our children.

Jan Gehl - urban quality consultant, Copenhague, Denmark
http://youtu.be/nbp95LNgV_I

11 months ago report
Elizabeth Blades-Hamilton

Social Analyst

Urban planning and obesity may be a wicked problem but we need to start somewhere. I like the tone of this article and the suggestions to get us moving. Patterns of behaviour can be a matter of who lives where but town planning and built form does also tend to dictate this. Peoples choices about where to live are restricted by their incomes, some more than others. If it wasn't for public housing in inner city Melbourne for example there would be little cultural diversity within the inner city…
Read more

Urban planning and obesity may be a wicked problem but we need to start somewhere. I like the tone of this article and the suggestions to get us moving. Patterns of behaviour can be a matter of who lives where but town planning and built form does also tend to dictate this. Peoples choices about where to live are restricted by their incomes, some more than others. If it wasn't for public housing in inner city Melbourne for example there would be little cultural diversity within the inner city.

I agree with Paul. I too would like to see more humanised cities. Jan Gehl has already greatly influenced urban planning in Melbourne & Perth city centres but we could do more to take back the roads for the people. Like many women I like to commute by bike but I am extremely nervous once I hit the city centre. I would like to suggest that Melbourne City Council trial one weekday morning a month when pedestrians and bikes are given precedence over motor vehicles. It would be interesting for the city transport officers to do some strategic counts at the busiest intersections and compare the stats.

For visionary planning such as planning cities for people, see Enrique Peñalosa, former mayor of Bogata http://www.pps.org/reference/epenalosa-2/

11 months ago report
1. Paul Richards
  
  strategic foresight
  
  In reply to Elizabeth Blades-Hamilton
  
  Elizabeth - we are few, thanks for adding to the comments.
  I keep this reference on youtube and regularly add to it for people like us. http://goo.gl/urcuU
  
  11 months ago report
2. Peter Fox
  
  Peter Fox is a Friend of The Conversation.
  
  Medical doctor
  
  In reply to Elizabeth Blades-Hamilton
  
  Great suggestion on bicycle days. Better still, car-free days like in Vancouver: http://www.carfreevancouver.org/about/
  
  11 months ago report
3. Paul Richards
  
  strategic foresight
  
  In reply to Peter Fox
  
  Peter - I was an ex pate living in NZ when the government did this to save fuel in the late seventies and it defiantly works.
  
  On 30 July, 1979, the government introduced carless days, where private motorists had to choose one day of the week, on which they could not drive their motor vehicle. Heavy fines were imposed for motorists who were caught driving on their nominated carless day.
  
  The roads and motorways were very pleasant to drive and cycle on and this may also work. Naturally there were some exemptions, but the public had no recourse.
  
  11 months ago report
Glenn Albrecht

Murdoch University

I blame the high hydrocarbon diet. See: http://www.shapingtomorrowsworld.org/EcoPrintObesity.html

11 months ago report
Gil Hardwick

Anthropologist

Correlating with all this is what somebody called, not so long ago, the right to roam.

Studies have shown that during childhood a great-grandfather walked or rode his bike 7 miles and more to go fishing or whatever. The grandfather went 5 miles, the father to the edge of the village, and the son barely even to the end of the block.

Children today are being driven everywhere, often in wank tanks, 4-wheel drives with bull bars front and rear, when they are far better off walking to school and…
Read more

Correlating with all this is what somebody called, not so long ago, the right to roam.

Studies have shown that during childhood a great-grandfather walked or rode his bike 7 miles and more to go fishing or whatever. The grandfather went 5 miles, the father to the edge of the village, and the son barely even to the end of the block.

Children today are being driven everywhere, often in wank tanks, 4-wheel drives with bull bars front and rear, when they are far better off walking to school and home again.

It is not simply about where one lives, or diet, or exercise as such, but the whole package combined. I dare suggest that a sense of childhood excitement, going off on an adventure, facing danger, daring risk, and returning home not only alive and well but with fish or rabbits for dinner, of being somebody in the house, a net contributor, is really what makes the heart beat faster, and the grin broaden.

Goodness, when my kids were that age they were so full of beans they couldn't sit still. The moment they got jumpy they were sent outside to run around. People used to ask me, to my astonishment, wasn't I 'sick of it', meaning such noisy active boys, to which all I could reply was, no, if they are sitting still for too long I'd be worrying they were unwell, and want to know what's wrong.

Suffice here that every evening, by about 9:00 pm, they all collapsed and were sound asleep within minutes, then up again next morning at sunup.

Today they are in their early 20s. The eldest at 15 came 4th in the Interschool Freestyle and has worked every summer of his undergraduate years as a brickie's labourer. They are not only slim, not muscle bound by any means, but they have an amazing resilience and with their work ethic an amazing capacity for and enjoyment of hard work. The second goes to the gym 5 evenings a week, after working 9 nine hours as a boilermaker.

Yes? Is the point I am making clear enough. We've tracked a lot of boys from early childhood through puberty and adolescence into young adulthood, not only mine. Mine have merely benefited from being raised in this form of experiment, allowed both cognitive and play autonomy from a young age combined with a big family gathering around the dinner table unfailingly every evening were we exchanged stories and news.

Without oversight or insistence from others, today they are inevitably slim or at least true to body type, good humoured, caring and thoughtful, and very hard working. The only real challenge has been to help channel their energy into positive, constructive outlets, but that's always the case with healthy active children.

Profile the undergraduate cohorts in any university, for all factors not just the few predetermined expectations based on what the obese, chronically underachieving children are doing, or not doing as they case may be.

The only other thing I can think is that my kids were not raised in the city. I took them back to the country, to a small country town, and raised them there with plenty of bush to run around in.

Nobody has to live in cities. Even people on low incomes are free to relocate, and choose where to raise their children, and the environment in which they grow up. None of that takes money. There are often better job opportunities in country towns than in the city, with a far greater sense of community, far greater social support, far smaller schools with far better teacher-student ratios, and far more freedom for kids to safely roam, exercise their own imaginations, and live out their own childhood adventures.

It hardly needs to be pointed out here that country towns cry out for people to come and live there, though I dare suggest it is our priorities that need changing not our endless searching for 'answers' in some theory or literature on raising children.

What better use for such places than as social nurseries? That would help solve a LOT of all this worry.

11 months ago report
1. Paul Richards
  
  strategic foresight
  
  In reply to Gil Hardwick
  
  Gil - Great comments, during the era pre motor industry our cites where humanised, shopping was localised and so was employment.
  
  If we look carefully at our history it is evident from Government Gazettes across Australia the bicycle and cycling lobbyists where the major instigators of our traffic laws.
  
  The right of way was given to pedestrians, cyclists, horses and carts pre 1950s in that order. The law still has this bias, but unfortunately the motor industries campaign has meant drivers…
  Read more
  
  Gil - Great comments, during the era pre motor industry our cites where humanised, shopping was localised and so was employment.
  
  If we look carefully at our history it is evident from Government Gazettes across Australia the bicycle and cycling lobbyists where the major instigators of our traffic laws.
  
  The right of way was given to pedestrians, cyclists, horses and carts pre 1950s in that order. The law still has this bias, but unfortunately the motor industries campaign has meant drivers see they have priority and this mindset pervades all levels of our society. Even the law enforcers, I would like to see us introduce 'strict liability' to take responsibility of enforcement officer, and place on the motor vehicle driver.
  
  We could live differently but for the power of the motor industry to sell the 'dream' of personal freedom. Campaigns like these below litter the media year in year out worldwide.
  
  http://www.copenhagenize.com/2011/12/car-industry-strikes-back-skoda.html
  
  http://www.copenhagenize.com/2011/11/toyota-car-industry-strikes-back.html
  
  http://www.copenhagenize.com/search/label/car%20industry%20strikes%20back
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strict_liability
  
  11 months ago report
2. Lorna Jarrett
  
  PhD candidate, science education; Physics teacher
  
  In reply to Gil Hardwick
  
  Gil,
  
  I've just returned from a trip to Scotland (where I grew up), taking in a few days in Amsterdam (first time there for me).
  
  The trip reminded me of something I miss about European cities: the ease and prevalence of public life. More compact cities mean shorter distances - more amenable to walking or cycling. They also mean less private space, so people spend their leisure time much more in public spaces. This is significant because it leads to a sense of community and builds social cohesion…
  Read more
  
  Gil,
  
  I've just returned from a trip to Scotland (where I grew up), taking in a few days in Amsterdam (first time there for me).
  
  The trip reminded me of something I miss about European cities: the ease and prevalence of public life. More compact cities mean shorter distances - more amenable to walking or cycling. They also mean less private space, so people spend their leisure time much more in public spaces. This is significant because it leads to a sense of community and builds social cohesion. It also makes it much easier to meet new people when you move - live can be lonely when everyone's behind a wheel or a white picket fence.
  
  We also saw allotments. In cities where most people live in flats and have no gardens, these huge tracts of veggie patches provide not only space to grow food (crappy British climate not withstanding) but inevitable interaction with other local gardeners - often old-timers with helpful advice and cuttings to spare.
  
  Lots of museums too - and all the ones in Glasgow are free. As a kid I spent many a wet day, taking in Dali and Degas while incidentally spending all afternoon walking.
  
  My conclusion - if only we could learn form the Europeans and get out of this white-picket suburban mentality. If we combined their urban design and our climate we'd be onto a winning formula.
  
  10 months ago report
3. Lorna Jarrett
  
  PhD candidate, science education; Physics teacher
  
  In reply to Lorna Jarrett
  
  Oh, and half the "roads" in Old Edinburgh are actually staircases. Or if they ARE roads, instead of intersecting, one road often crosses over the other via a bridge. Watching American tourists in hire cars with satnav is a great local entertainment so I'm told.
  
  10 months ago report
4. Paul Richards
  
  strategic foresight
  
  In reply to Lorna Jarrett
  
  Lorna - What a picture you painted, it is sad we fell for the utopian dream based around the motor vehicle. Worse still we are still too proud to admit we did.
  I love the spirit over there this short video epitomizes how we failed to diverge when the Dutch did;
  
  http://youtu.be/XuBdf9jYj7o
  It is a joy to see all the females out and exercising, unlike here;
  http://youtu.be/swqaAIkGtpA
  
  10 months ago report
5. Lorna Jarrett
  
  PhD candidate, science education; Physics teacher
  
  In reply to Paul Richards
  
  Thanks Paul,
  
  http://youtu.be/XuBdf9jYj7o Amazing - I had no idea that the cycle infrastructure is so recent, and the explanation of how it came about is fascinating and relevant to Australia.
  
  I didn't see any couples cycling hand in hand in the second video though - a common sight in Amsterdam :)
  
  The important point is that humanising cities is no pipe dream - it's already happened in other countries and to say that Australian cities are somehow different is just a hollow, baseless excuse for avoiding change. After all, Northern Europe has vile weather and it's dark half the year - and that doesn't stop them cycling. Meanwhile Scotland is infamously full of hills and not only is cycle touring popular, cycle commuting is increasing to the extent that you can scarcely get a cheap Brompton on eBay anymore.
  
  10 months ago report
Gillian Kirby

mature age history student

I live on the upper north shore of sydney and despite no shops, transport or parks within 25min walk from home (and so everybody owns 2 cars) you rarely see obese people around here. I know it's probably not the norm as, you know, we're not 'real' people here as the Prime Minister pointed out. I just find that most people I know here are just interested in being healthy.

Having said that I also hear constantly from other families that kids don't want to play much in the backyard but would prefer…
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I live on the upper north shore of sydney and despite no shops, transport or parks within 25min walk from home (and so everybody owns 2 cars) you rarely see obese people around here. I know it's probably not the norm as, you know, we're not 'real' people here as the Prime Minister pointed out. I just find that most people I know here are just interested in being healthy.

Having said that I also hear constantly from other families that kids don't want to play much in the backyard but would prefer to play at a park (our kids also prefer the front yard as we live in a cul-de-sac and they're more likely to see the neighbours out there). So I've wondered whether instead of all these apartment blocks going up everywhere lately that maybe it would be more popular to build generous size townhouses (without the $M pricetag that goes with the apartments) and have more parks within a 5-10min walk rather than our situation now where we need to drive to one!

I love where I live but it frustrates me that I have to drive everywhere - and I've discovered I don't really like the gardening that comes with the 1/4acre block that's so prevalent here on the upper north shore. And I'm sure I'm not the only one!

11 months ago report
Stiofán Mac Suibhne

Contrarian / Epistemologist

I live in the municiplaity of Canterbury in Sydney. We are very fortunate to have the Cook's river walkway and the Wolli Creek / Bardwell valley green / blue spaces in the area. The walkway is a fantastic community resource. It allows leisure walking in a very pleasant environment and safe cycling. Attractive plantings are also a refuge for birds erc. It's well used and there is the potential to expand the network of pathways along the Alexandria Canal and a walkway along side a light rail development…
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I live in the municiplaity of Canterbury in Sydney. We are very fortunate to have the Cook's river walkway and the Wolli Creek / Bardwell valley green / blue spaces in the area. The walkway is a fantastic community resource. It allows leisure walking in a very pleasant environment and safe cycling. Attractive plantings are also a refuge for birds erc. It's well used and there is the potential to expand the network of pathways along the Alexandria Canal and a walkway along side a light rail development.

Such walkways are a great asset. They encourage participation in execise, opportunities for volunteering and social interaction and make the environment beautiful. Active groups of volunteers maintain plantings and clean up the waterways. Local, state & federal governments have all contributed. I would urge everyone to ask questions of their elected representatives regarding such developments. Instead of fruitless hand wringing about how fat is the new leprosy get out and try to make it better.

11 months ago report

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