The Kelvin Grove Urban Village: What aspects of design are important for connecting people, place, and health?
Carroll, Julie-Anne and Adkins, Barbara A. and Foth, Marcus and Parker, Elizabeth A. (2007) The Kelvin Grove Urban Village: What aspects of design are important for connecting people, place, and health? In: International Urban Design Conference : Waves of Change – Cities at Crossroads, 6 - 8 September 2007, Jupiters Casino, Gold Coast. (In Press)
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Abstract
There is an emergent trend in both urban design and health-related literature calling for strengthened connections between these fields, with the aim of meshing social aspects of urban design with current efforts to generate healthier lifestyles and behavioural patterns among urban populations (Gleeson, 2004). As Jackson states, ‘while causal chains are generally complex and not always completely understood, sufficient evidence exists to reveal urban design as a powerful tool for improving human condition’ (p. 191). The Kelvin Grove Urban Village (KGUV) will be discussed in this paper as a case-study for responding to this call. The underlying design principles of KGUV, including its basis in new urbanism, social diversity, and the availability of wide, even, pathways and green spaces identified it as an ideal location for addressing some long-standing questions in the research about which social and physical design features are most salient for increasing people’s propensity to walk or engage in recommended levels of physical activity. The findings from this interdisciplinary investigation examining the patterns and processes connecting people, place and health are presented in this paper, and illustrate the ways in which different urban demographics engage with their immediate environment, in the pursuit of social, recreational, and health-related goals. Implications rising out of these findings are two-fold: firstly, for urban designers to heed the findings in research examining ‘area effects’ on health, and secondly, for health communicators to give deeper consideration to the design features of the context hosting their target demographics prior to the design and dissemination of health promotion messages and campaigns. This way, new urban neighbourhoods stand an increased chance of creating environments that encourage and allow increased levels of physical activity, and health communicators are more likely to create campaigns and interventions that resonate within the contexts in which they are delivered and received.
| ID Code: | 9843 |
|---|---|
| Item Type: | Conference Paper |
| Additional URLs : | |
| Keywords : | socioeconomic, health, behaviours, urban design, health inequalities, housing |
| Subjects: | Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification > BUILT ENVIRONMENT AND DESIGN (120000) > URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING (120500) > Land Use and Environmental Planning (120504) Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification > MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES (110000) > PUBLIC HEALTH AND HEALTH SERVICES (111700) > Public Health and Health Services not elsewhere classified (111799) |
| Divisions: | QUT Faculties and Divisions > QUT Carseldine - Humanities & Human Services Research Centres > Centre for Social Change Research |
| Copyright Owner : | Copyright 2007 (please consult author) |
| Deposited On: | 01 Oct 2007 |
| Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2009 01:52 |
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