benefits of compact, mixed use development

This national study quantified the relationship between urban form and physical activity, obesity, and health. Health data came from the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey, and geographic data came from the Selected Metropolitan/Micropolitan Area Risk Trends project. Health was split into three categories: weight status (Body Mass Index), physical activity (the survey questions covered high (i.e. athletic exercise) and moderate (e.g. walking) levels of exercise), and chronic diseases (i.e. hypertension, diabetes, and coronary heart disease). Gender, age, race/ethnicity, income, and educational attainment were used as control variables. Their dataset violates Ordinary Least Squares and multiple models were used to account for this, including multi-level, hierarchical linear, and hierarchical nonlinear models. Sprawl was measured using a slightly modified model from one of the authors’ previous articles, which incorporated six variables: gross population density, percentage of population living in densities of more than 12,500 people/sq mile, population density of developed land, percentage of blocks of less than .01 square miles, percentage of population living in densities of less than 1,500 people/sq mile, and average block size. These variables were applied at the county level. The study found that BMI is negatively correlated to compactness. Moderate physical activity was found to be negatively correlated to compactness, while compactness was not significantly correlated with high physical activity. Compactness was also found to be negatively correlated with all three chronic diseases.