Transport affects health and wellbeing through numerous pathways, resulting in a myriad of positive and negative impacts.
Planners, engineers and design professionals are becoming increasingly aware of the relationship between transport and health as the body of research on this topic grows.
Transport infrastructure can be the source of both solutions and problems around some of society’s biggest challenges including climate change, increasing rates of chronic diseases and rising healthcare expenditure.
This research, the result of collaboration between Arup, BRE, University College London and AREA Research (Perkins+Will), aims to help decision-makers deliver better mobility infrastructure in their cities through an improved understanding of the impact of mobility/infrastructure on wellbeing. It examines the correlation of physical and mental health to the availability of active and non-active transport modes for daily journeys.
Through an assessment of current studies, literature and methodologies, we have produced a framework structuring the relationship between mobility infrastructure and health. The framework supports the design protocol to help cities promote and support health and wellbeing.