title: Can the impact on health of a government policy designed to create more liveable neighbourhoods be evaluated? An overview of the RESIDential Environment Project.
abstract: There is growing interest in the impact of community design on the health of residents. In 1998, the Western Australian Government began a trial of new subdivision design codes (i.e. Liveable Neighbourhoods Community Design Code) aimed at creating pedestrian-friendly neighbourhoods to increase walking, cycling and public transport use. The trial provided a unique opportunity for a natural experiment to evaluate the impact of a government planning policy on residents. Nevertheless, evaluations of this kind present a number of methodological challenges in obtaining the highest quality evidence possible. This paper describes the RESIDential Environment Project's study design and discusses how various methodological challenges were overcome.
authors: School of Population Health, University of Western Australia. billie.giles-corti@uwa.edu.au
authors: Billie
authors: B
authors: Giles-Corti
authors: Matthew
authors: M
authors: Knuiman
authors: Terri J
authors: TJ
authors: Pikora
authors: Kimberly
authors: K
authors: Van Neil
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Timperio
authors: Fiona C L
authors: FC
authors: Bull
authors: Trevor
authors: T
authors: Shilton
authors: Max
authors: M
authors: Bulsara
mesh_terms: D002958:City Planning; D003153:Community Health Services; D019058:Community Networks; D004779:Environment Design; D006076:Government; D033161:Government Regulation; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D011050:Policy Making; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011634:Public Health; D011640:Public Policy; D017150:Public Sector; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014504:Urban Health; D014904:Western Australia