How Land Use and Transportation Systems Impact Public Health

This review discusses how urban form affects public health, specifically through the ways in which the built environment encourages or discourages physical activity levels. The questions raised illuminate fundamental quality of life considerations including residential preferences, time use, space requirements, security, and convenience, which collectively shape the built environment. The relative costs and benefits of the locational and travel choices that are currently available have resulted in a built environment designed to accommodate the car -- at the measurable expense of the ability to move about under human power.