Low-carbon built environments and cardiometabolic health: a systematic review of Australian studies

ABSTRACT

Australian cities offer potential for public health impact through low-carbon built environment design interventions, given their high per capita carbon footprint and with car use being a large proportion of transport mode share. Certain neighbourhood built environment features have been shown to influence uptake of active travel (walking and cycling), and thus may have beneficial associations with cardiometabolic health outcomes, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. This systematic review synthesised Australian evidence on associations between low-carbon built environment attributes (green space and those promoting active transport) and cardiometabolic health in adults. Six databases were systematically searched; 33 articles met the inclusion criteria and 22 were included in a meta-analysis. We found strong evidence for an association of higher levels of walkability with lower risk of overweight/obesity, while there was some evidence linking higher land use mix and supportive walking/cycling infrastructure with lower overweight/obesity risk. Australian policy and advocacy efforts favouring more walkable neighbourhoods (compact, dense, and mixed-use) may have dual benefits for population health and the sustainability of cities. These findings highlight the importance of urban planning and public health practitioners working together to achieve healthy and sustainable cities for all.

KEYWORDS:

• Urban design
• cities
• walkability
• green space
• cardiometabolic health

This article is related to:

Research for city practice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Additional information

Funding

This article is an outcome of a project supported by the Cooperative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living whose activities were funded by the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centre Programme.

Notes on contributors

Nyssa Hadgraft

Nyssa Hadgraft, Manoj Chandrabose, Barbara Bok, Neville Owen, Peter Newton, Niki Frantzeskaki and Takemi Sugiyama are members of the Centre for Urban Transitions at Swinburne University of Technology, of which Professor Frantzeskaki is Director. The Centre for Urban Transitions leads research in the science of cities, and urban sustainability transitions. Different lenses are used to investigate drivers, patterns, and pathways of urban futures. CUT aims to produce systemic, integrative and actionable knowledge on cities and how they transform.

Ian Woodcock

Ian Woodcock is Senior Lecturer, Director of Architecture and Urban Design in the Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, and Theme Leader Sustainable Mobilities Design, Swinburne Smart Cities Research Institute. With over 25 years experience encompassing practice, research and teaching in architecture, urban design and planning, over the last decade Ian’s research has focused on multi-scalar integration of active and public transport infrastructure, land use planning and architecture to understand potentials for new kinds of place making.