URBAN PLANNING AND POPULATION HEALTH The impact of neighbourhood walkability on active transportation

How neighbourhood walkability impacts active transportation has long been of interest to the field of urban planning with implications for population health. Active transportation promotes physically active lifestyles and walking is one of the most frequently used forms of active transportation, due to its relative accessibility. Neighbourhood walkability supports individuals to travel through neighbourhoods and is impacted by the proximity to destinations, street connectivity, mixed diversity of land use, access to public transportation systems and access to different destinations. Despite the benefits of active transportation on population health, the numbers engaging in active transport is less than optimal worldwide. This chapter explores features that impact neighbourhood walkability and consequently active transportation with implications for urban planning and population health. This chapter calls for continuous efforts in the field of urban planning to make further progress towards enhancing neighbourhood walkability to positively impact physically active forms of transportation.