Perspectives and commentary about active transportation, air quality, and land use and development in an urban setting

I was fascinated by Pucher and Dijkstra’s article comparing and contrasting walking and cycling activity and safety among The Netherlands, Germany, and the United States. I was struck by how accidents pertaining to walking and cycling are underreported in all three countries. I assumed that U.S. crash incidents are underreported, but I did not know that underreporting is also an issue in The Netherlands and Germany, where walking and cycling are more common. Particularly, I was shocked to learn that only 48% of pedestrian and cycling injuries requiring a hospital visit are reported in Germany and 60% are reported in The Netherlands and that only 16% of minor pedestrian and cycling injuries are reported in Germany and 15% are reported in The Netherlands. 

It was interesting to learn that residents in The Netherlands and Germany have longer life expectancies by a few years than residents in the United States, because of the ability to safely walk and cycle. It was not too surprising to learn that sedentary behaviors and travel modes perpetuate obesity and that the United States has a much higher obesity rate than The Netherlands and Germany. Furthermore, I was fascinated by the overlap between Pucher and Dijkstra’s article and Fenger’s article, even though both articles specifically focus on respective subjects (walking and cycling, and urban air quality). The overlap is not immediately apparent until you reach Fenger’s conclusion — A comprehensive approach: Fenger points out that technological improvements in the form of less polluting vehicles would not be an optimal solution (even though that is what is playing out today). Rather, Fenger suggests reducing the need to use transportation and ensuring that public transportation dominates over single-occupancy vehicle transportation.

I would add that travel by walking and cycling also would ameliorate urban air quality, more than public transportation. Active transportation would have the best outcomes in mitigating urban air quality. And as the main travel mode, active transportation would require urban areas to grow in (a term I am borrowing from Michael Anderson’s Sightline article), rather than growing up or growing out. Growing in would involve relaxing setback and parking requirements and other strict zoning regulations to develop a denser infill of housing and business/commercial properties where feasible. Housing and business/commercial production shifts like this could involve housing to business/commercial use conversions within the existing stock of properties. These shifts could be driven by the dense infill development of rentable or purchasable high-quality, low-cost manufactured housing that frees up convertible existing properties.

An ideal mix of business/commercial uses would be nutritious food sources (grocery and farmers’ markets) and restaurants and convenience stores, pharmacies and medical and technical services (e.g., doctors, dentists, and optometrists offices, cycle for-sale and repair shops, and other mechanical services), libraries and book and media stores, and preferably medium- to high-quality second-hand and new clothing outlet stores. All the better if there are existing schools and other public institutions in place. There should be an equitable balance on the residential and non-residential mix, respective to the preferable/desirable rental and homeownership cost reductions resulting from the increased supply of residential properties.

A safer, and more accessible, mobile, resourceful, and watchful urban environment could induce the demand for more active transportation right-of-way, facilities, and equipment. An urban environment free of single-occupancy vehicles would have better ecological health than otherwise. 

By Asif Haque

Edited by Manuel Suarez Pallas

Source

Pucher, John, and Lewis Dijkstra. “Promoting Safe Walking and Cycling to Improve Public Health: Lessons From The Netherlands and Germany.” American Journal of Public Health 93, no. 9 (September 2003): 1509–1516.

Fenger, J. “Urban Air Quality,” Atmospheric, 33: 4877-4900 (2000).

https://www.sightline.org/2021/08/01/we-ran-the-rent-numbers-on-portlands-7-newly-legal-home-options/