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Health scientists and urban planners have long been interested in the influence that the built environment has on the physical activities in which we engage, the environmental hazards we face, the kinds of amenities we enjoy, and the resulting impacts on our health. However, it is widely recognized that the extent of this influence, and the specific cause-and-effect relationships that exist, are still relatively unclear. Recent reviews highlight the need for more individual-level data on daily activities (especially physical activity) over long periods of time linked spatially to real-world characteristics of the built environment in diverse settings, along with a wide range of personal mediating variables. While capturing objective data on the built environment has benefited from wide-scale availability of detailed land use and transport network databases, the same cannot be said of human activity. A more diverse history of data collection methods exists for such activity and continues to evolve owing to a variety of quickly emerging wearable sensor technologies. At present, no “gold standard” method has emerged for assessing physical activity type and intensity under the real-world conditions of the built environment; in fact, most methods have barely been tested outside of the laboratory, and those that have tend to experience significant drops in accuracy and reliability. This paper provides a review of these diverse methods and emerging technologies, including biochemical, self-report, direct observation, passive motion detection, and integrated approaches. Based on this review and current needs, an integrated three-tiered methodology is proposed, including: (1) passive location tracking (e.g., using global positioning systems); (2) passive motion/biometric tracking (e.g., using accelerometers); and (3) limited self-reporting (e.g., using prompted recall diaries). Key development issues are highlighted, including the need for proper validation and automated activity-detection algorithms. The paper ends with a look at some of the key lessons learned and new opportunities that have emerged at the crossroads of urban studies and health sciences.

We do have a vision for a world in which people can walk to shops, school, friends' homes, or transit stations; in which they can mingle with their neighbors and admire trees, plants, and waterways; in which the air and water are clean; and in which there are parks and play areas for children, gathering spots for teens and the elderly, and convenient work and recreation places for the rest of us. (Frumkin, Frank, & Jackson, 2004, p. xvii)

This chapter introduces how the built environment and walking are connected. It looks at the interrelationships within the built environment, and how those are changing given planning and policy efforts to facilitate increased walking for both leisure activity and commuting. Using a broad review and case-based approach, the chapter examines this epistemological development of walking and the built environment over time, reviews the connections, policies and design strategies and emerging issues. The chapter shows many cases of cities which are creating a more walkable environment. It also reveals that emerging issues related to technology and autonomous vehicles, vision zero and car-free cities, and increased regional policy may play a continued role in shaping the built environment for walking. This dialogue provides both a core underpinning and a future vision for how the built environment can continue to influence and respond to pedestrians in shaping a more walkable world.

It has been suggested that “space and artifacts constitute systems of communication which organizations build up within themselves” (Gagliardi, 1992a, b, p. vi) and reflect the cultural life within that organization. This is a study of how the “landscape” of a public library (“Library X”), as an information retrieval system, relates to the values of the people who created it. The efforts here are geared towards understanding the physical instantiation of institutional culture and, more specifically, institutional values as they are reflected through the artifact.

This exploratory study, a Ph.D. dissertation completed at the University of Western Ontario in 2013, examines the materially embedded relations of power between library users and staff in public libraries and how building design regulates spatial behavior according to organizational objectives. It considers three public library buildings as organization spaces (Dale & Burrell, 2008) and determines the extent to which their spatial organizations reproduce the relations of power between the library and its public that originated with the modern public library building type ca. 1900. Adopting a multicase study design, I conducted site visits to three, purposefully selected public library buildings of similar size but various ages. Site visits included: blueprint analysis; organizational document analysis; in-depth, semi-structured interviews with library users and library staff; cognitive mapping exercises; observations; and photography.

Despite newer approaches to designing public library buildings, the use of newer information technologies, and the emergence of newer paradigms of library service delivery (e.g., the user-centered model), findings strongly suggest that the library as an organization still relies on many of the same socio-spatial models of control as it did one century ago when public library design first became standardized. The three public libraries examined show spatial organizations that were designed primarily with the librarian, library materials, and library operations in mind far more than the library user or the user’s many needs. This not only calls into question the public library’s progressiveness over the last century but also hints at its ability to survive in the new century.

Sustainability issues have become crucial to mitigate urban heat islands (UHIs) and reduce the global warming effect. The climate change news is frequently heard lately due to the extreme weather to the extent that the increasing earth’s temperature often causes disaster and loss of property and life. New adaptation needs to new climate context and limits the on-going effects. One of the ways is adopting green roofs on buildings. Implementing sustainable practices such as green roofs will help mitigate this adverse effect in urban areas. Green roofs provide many benefits such as enhancing the aesthetical quality of the built environment, reduce UHIs, reduce energy consumption, improve storm-water attenuation, roof longevity, and reduce noise pollution. However, only a few buildings in Malaysia have considering green roofs as a main green feature element. There is barely number of buildings that have green roof design even though it offers benefits to the community and environment. This chapter has emphasised the types of green roof systems that are potentially suitable in Malaysia climate and obstacles associated with the green roof system. The study found the barriers to implementing green roofs in Malaysia, especially during the stage of building operation in maintaining the green roof system. The survey has been done, which revealed nine factors that hinder the green roof application. This study also highlights the challenges to overcome the barriers of implementing green roofs in Malaysia.

In recent years, recognition of environmental influences in public health has expanded to include more components of the environment such as the built environment, attitudes, and public policies. This environmental attention has addressed the need for healthier housing, schools, roads, and work sites, as some examples. Paralleling the development of awareness of the impact of environment on health and health behaviors, the influence of the environment and its contribution to the experience of disability has become more apparent. This national descriptive analysis of environmental barriers contributes to our understanding of the extent of environmental considerations for the entire U.S. adult population, not just older individuals, and will document those problems for those with self-reported functional limitations (i.e., disability).

This analysis uses the 2002 National Health Interview data to examine physical, social, and policy barriers experienced by the U.S. national population of adults age 18 or over. Focusing specifically on those who report a physical, activity, participation, or mental health limitation, the experience of barriers in the home, workplace, school, and the community is examined using descriptive analyses.

Results indicate that approximately 11% of the population with disabilities and 2% of the nondisabled adult population experience barriers in their daily lives. Severity of limitations and poor health status among those with disabilities increase the experience of barriers. The only sociodemographic factor related to reporting barriers was income. Depending on the kind of limitation, up to 28.6% of the population with disabilities experience barriers. The two most frequently reported types of barriers were building design and attitudes of other people.

This analysis provides an indication of how the environment is experienced by adults with disabilities and identifies perceived barriers found in the home, the work/school environment and the community. It starts to provide a baseline for understanding of the environment as experienced by persons with disabilities and suggests the most pressing areas for attention.

To our knowledge, this is among the first nationally representative analysis of barriers that interfere with daily activities experienced by adults in the United States. It highlights the experience of adults with disabilities and describes numerous types of potential barriers.

Studies repeatedly have found social disparities of health at many levels of spatial aggregation. A second body of empirical research, demonstrating relationships between an area's racial and class composition and its environmental conditions, has led to the rise of an environmental justice movement. However, few studies have connected these two sets of findings to ask whether social disparities in health outcomes are due to local environmental disparities. This chapter investigates whether the association between racial and socioeconomic composition and multiple health conditions across New York City zip codes is partly mediated by neighborhood physical, built, and social environments.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce and discuss potential applications of emerging Building Information Model (BIM) and related technologies as applied to healthcare facilities. The paper presents example of applications of digital tools enabled by BIM that support more integrated outcomes for complex healthcare projects.

Paper formulation by a transdisciplinary author group with ideas and approaches developed through discussions and writing to explore future research directions. Initial ideas are supplemented by a literature review with examples introduced where relevant.

BIM as a front-end construction engineering tool is quite mature. Application of BIM and related tools to support complex healthcare at the precinct scale, for facilities management (FM), including improved user experience (UX) has been limited but shows great promise to support complex healthcare projects.

The research presented is limited and exploratory as it represents the first step by this group to investigate an integrated approach to digital healthcare design and FM.

The paper introduces the considerable benefits of BIM models, and related tools for FM and/or UX (both staff and patients) to save time, money and improves efficiency and accuracy in healthcare facilities.

The transdisciplinary author group brought broad perspectives to the potential benefits of combining accurate data-rich legacy building models with other digital tools for increased integration and co-ordination at all life stages of a healthcare precinct.