The New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities and Landcare Research is pleased to post this, Wn ChCh Regeneration Book 11
This evidence-based report draws on the collective expertise of over 100 urban researchers, scientists and policy advisors who attended a sustainability workshop in Christchurch in April.
A limited number of printed copies will be available on request
PODCASTS ADDED
Podcast: Podcast: Barbara Israel: Community Engagement in Policy making and Planning
Podcast: Podcast: Christine Jacobson, Senior Policy Analyst, Porirua City Council
Podcast: Barbara Israel and Christine Jacobson: Questions and answers
Community Engagement in Policy making and Planning:
Prof Barbara Israel, DrPH, MPH, Professor Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of Michigan has published widely in the areas of: the social and physical environmental determinants of health and health inequalities; the relationship among stress, social support, control and physical and mental health; community empowerment and health; and community-based participatory research (CBPR). She has extensive experience conducting community-based participatory research in collaboration with partners in diverse communities. Since 1995, she has worked together with academic and community partners to establish and maintain the Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center, initially funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Israel is actively involved in several of these CBPR projects examining and addressing, for example, the social and physical environmental determinants of cardiovascular disease, the environmental triggers of childhood asthma, access to food and physical activity spaces, diabetes management and prevention, and capacity building for and translating research findings into policy change
Christine Jacobson is a Senior Policy Analyst, Porirua City Council.
The Asia-Pacific region is substantially urban, 45% of the population now resides in urban areas. Urbanization is increasing rapidly, with more than 40 million people being added each year. Moreover, 50% of these people are below 25 years of age.
The region faces the double burden of existing infectious diseases and the emerging life style diseases associated with rising incomes. The promise of greater opportunities in cities is accompanied by changing aspirations of people. Policy makers need to take into account the growing material aspirations of the people while planning developmental activities with improved environmental safe guards. Scientists have an important role in the development of new knowledge to inform this decision making. Total wellbeing involves complex interactions of multiple determinants, and systems approach can improve understanding of the interplay between these determinants and suggest practical approaches. Countries in this region range from developed (e.g. Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea), to emerging economies (e.g. China, India) to low income nations. The region also has diverse governance systems varying from monarchies, socialist regimes and democracies.
Combining this with differing expertise for undertaking complex analysis, we see that the approach to understanding the complex interactions involved in total wellbeing should vary throughout the region.
Acknowledging the diversity in expertise and data availability between countries, this plan strives for feasible and implementable approaches that could be initiated without delay. Capacity building would be developed around a major activity in the region where policy makers, civil society, scientists, administrators and people from informal sectors need to interact and understand the strength and weaknesses of each individual approach, and to see how that understanding improves through a systems process. Data collection and access will be essential for this analysis. A fast growing city and an institution will be identified in the first phase to initiate the systems thinking process.
New methodologies need to be sensitive and inclusive to be persuasive and successful. Both the people and the policy makers need to be brought on board early to translate systems research into action. The plan includes a number of case studies to illustrate the added value of systems approaches. The issues addressed in these case studies include transport, waste management, health consequences of informal settlements, and growth of new cities in the region.
Concurrently efforts should be initiated to identify international and regional collaborating centres that can execute a systems analysis approach and mathematical modelling on any of the issues identified above. It is anticipated that available funding will increase as the new paradigm is more widely recognised.
This is a draft and comments are welcome.
Themes and streams
1. A vision for the future of public health: for projects or work that suggest new ways of working in public health or successful models of intervention.
2. Sustainable communities and environments: for projects or work that suggest ways of sustaining strong communities and safe environments.
3. Diversity: for projects or activities that reflect health development issues for specific communities or groups of people.
More details available on the website
Jeroen Johan de Hartog,1 Hanna Boogaard,1 Hans Nijland,2 and Gerard Hoek1
1University of Utrecht, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht, the Netherlands; 2Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Bilthoven, the Netherlands
Background: Although from a societal point of view a modal shift from car to bicycle may have beneficial health effects due to decreased air pollution emissions, decreased greenhouse gas emissions, and increased levels of physical activity, shifts in individual adverse health effects such as higher exposure to air pollution and risk of a traffic accident may prevail.
Objective: We describe whether the health benefits from the increased physical activity of a modal shift for urban commutes outweigh the health risks
Abstract
Objective:
To estimate the effects on health, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions if short trips(≤ 7 km) were undertaken by bicycle rather than motor car
Method:
Existing data sources were used to model effects, in the urban setting in New Zealand, of varying the proportion of vehicle kilometre travelled by bicycle instead of light motor vehicle.
Results:
Shifting 5% of vehicle kilometres to cycling would reduce vehicle travel by approximately 223 million kilometres each year, save about 22 million litres of fuel and reduce transport-related greenhouse emissions by 0.4%. The health effects would include about 116 deaths avoided annually as a result of increased physical activity, six fewer deaths due to local air pollution from vehicle emissions, and an additional five cyclist fatalities from road crashes. In economic terms, including only fatalities and using the NZ Ministry of Transport Value of a Statistical Life, the health effects of a 5% shift represent net savings of about $200 million per year.
Conclusion:
The health benefits of moving from cars to bikes heavily outweigh the costs of injury from road crashes.
Implications:
Transport policies that encourage bicycle use will help to reduce air pollution and greenhouse emissions and improve public health.
Key words:
Air pollution, bicycles, climate change, environmental health, greenhouse gases, injury, mortality, physical activity, transport.
Aust NZ J Public Health
doi: 10.1111/j.1753-6405.2010.00621. 2010; 54-60
For further infomation contact Graeme Lindsay
Research Fellow
Public Health Medicine Physician
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
School of Population Health, Tamaki Campus
The University of Auckland
Private Bag 92019
Auckland
