Burn Calories, Not Electricity

By Pat Sullivan

If you saw this sign, ‘Burn Calories, Not Electricity’, by a stairwell, would it prompt you to reject the elevator and use leg power to reach your destination? The proponents of Healthy Design think it would. This growing field proposes that the built environment – our buildings and roads – impacts our health in many ways. Their vision ranges from the macro – urban planning that revitalizes streets for pedestrians – to the micro – a motivational sign on a stairwell in a building that could get office workers and residents moving.

 

Ruth Noordegraaf, a member of the Kingston Coalition for Active Transportation (KCAT), attended the Healthy Peel by Design Symposium, in Mississauga, last fall. The conference drew 300 politicians, planners, designers and health care professionals to examine the impact of the built environment on health. “The message was simple: we can make our citizens healthier if we design for it. Health is a land-use issue. I heard many ideas that could be applied in Kingston,” said Ruth.

To see how land use affects health, we can look back to the 19th century, when the implementation of sanitary reforms and improved housing conditions benefited the population. Such progress then gave way to the automotive culture, which sparked a pattern of suburban, car-oriented development. Researchers now believe that the poor street connectivity in low-density suburbs is linked to a wide range of health problems such as physical inactivity, obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, asthma and other respiratory diseases.

One presenter who really impressed Ruth was Skye Duncan, an International Urban Design Consultant who showed how New York City is building complete neighbourhoods that feature increased density, fresh foods, public plazas, affordable housing and the arts. How this happens is through policy, which mandates street trees, green parking lots, publicly accessible waterfronts, minimum planting standards for front yards, curb cut regulations, and zoning for bicycle parking. The approach is summed up as ‘People First, from Skyscraper to Sidewalk’: always judge from the pedestrians’ perspective.

The goals of Healthy Design mesh with those of Active Transportation: we all want our built environment to foster physical activity. Your stairwell may not have a motivational sign yet, but you could adopt the Healthy Design attitude: ‘Burn Calories, Not Electricity’!


Pat Sullivan is a member of the Kingston Coalition for Active Transportation (KCAT). KCAT is a group of community members who work with a variety of partners within the City of Kingston to develop an environment for walking, cycling and other self-propelled modes of transportation that is safe, secure, convenient, efficient and attractive.