‘Cul-de-sacs make you fat’: homebuyer and land developer perceptions of neighbourhood walkability, bikeability, livability, vibrancy, and health

ABSTRACT

Academics use ‘walkability’, ‘healthy’, ‘bikeability’, ‘vibrancy’, and ‘livability’ to describe neighbourhood design that support health and wellbeing. These labels are communicated in the media and real estate and land development marketing materials, yet residents may not use these labels when describing their neighbourhoods. Our qualitative study explored recent homebuyers’ and residential land developers’ perceptions of these neighbourhood design labels. Twelve land developers (7 men; 5 women) and twelve homebuyers (7 men; 5 women) from three major cities (Calgary, Edmonton, and Lethbridge) in Alberta, Canada, completed semi-structured telephone-interviews. Interview transcripts underwent content analysis. Land developers and homebuyers shared common perspectives of these labels, which had similarities with academic definitions. Participants described walkability as: (a) ease of movement, (b) contextual differences, and (c) connections; healthy as: (a) opportunities for activity, and (b) diversity; bikeability as: (a) supportive infrastructure, and (b) differing preferences; vibrancy as: (a) matches peoples’ values, and (b) supportive built features; and livability as: (a) all encompassing, and (b) safe and friendly. The features described were not mutually exclusive to any one-neighbourhood label. Our findings suggest that walkable and bikeable neighbourhoods are not necessarily vibrant or livable, nevertheless walkability, bikeability, vibrancy, and livability are qualities of a healthy neighbourhood.

KEYWORDS:

• Neighbourhood
• built environment
• qualitative
• land developer
• homebuyer
• urban design

This article is related to:

Research for city practice

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, GRM; methodology, GRM, T-LM, AN, and DG; formal analysis, T-LM and AN; data curation, DG; writing—original draft preparation, GRM, T-LM, AN, DG; writing—review and editing, GRM, T-LM, AN, DG; recruitment, DG; data collection, AN; funding acquisition, GRM. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

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

Geolocation Information

Alberta, Canada

Additional information

Funding

Funding support for this study was provided by the Alberta Real Estate Foundation and from a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Foundations Scheme Grant (FDN-154331);

Notes on contributors

Gavin R. McCormack

Gavin R. McCormack, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. His research program focusses on investigating the relationships between the built environment, active living, and health. He leads the Built Environment and Healthy Living Lab (https://www.behealthylivinglab.com/).

Autumn Nesdoly

Autumn Nesdoly is a Ph.D student in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation at the University of Alberta, Canada. Her research interests are broadly focused on enhancing the sport and physical education experiences of youth.

Dalia Ghoneim

Dalia Ghoneim, MPH Social Policy, BSc Kinesiology, is a research coordinator with the Built Environment and Healthy Living Lab (https://www.behealthylivinglab.com/) at the University of Calgary. She is passionate about promoting healthy lifestyles and physical activity.

Tara-Leigh McHugh

Tara-Leigh McHugh, Ph.D., is a professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation at the University of Alberta. Her program of research is focused on enhancing physical activity experiences, and she uses qualitative and collaborative research approaches to understand the psychosocial aspects of such experiences. E-mail: [email protected]