title: Reconnecting urban planning with health: a protocol for the development and validation of national liveability indicators associated with noncommunicable disease risk behaviours and health outcomes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Liveable communities create the conditions to optimise health and wellbeing outcomes in residents by influencing various social determinants of health - for example, neighbourhood walkability and access to public transport, public open space, local amenities, and social and community facilities. This study will develop national liveability indicators that are (a) aligned with state and federal urban policy, (b) developed using national data (where available), (c) standard and consistent over time, (d) suitable for monitoring progress towards creating more liveable, equitable and sustainable communities, (e) validated against selected noncommunicable disease risk behaviours and/or health outcomes, and (f) practical for measuring local, national and federal built environment interventions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Protocol.
  
  
  METHODS
  Over two years, the National Liveability Study, funded through The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre (TAPPC), will develop and validate a national set of spatially derived built environment liveability indicators related to noncommunicable disease risk behaviours and/or health outcomes, informed by a review of relevant policies in selected Australian state and territory governments. To create national indicators, we will compare measures developed using national data with finer-grained state-level data, which have been validated against a range of outcomes. Finally, we will explore the creation of a national database of built environment spatial indicators.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A national advisory group comprising stakeholders in state and federal government, federal nongovernment organisations and state-based technical working groups located in the ACT, Victoria, NSW, Queensland and WA has been established; a policy analysis is under way and work programs are being prepared.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This project seeks to build the capacity for built environment and health systems research by developing national indicators to monitor progress towards creating healthy and liveable communities. This ambition requires multisector engagement and an interdisciplinary research team.
authors.affiliation: McCaughey VicHealth Centre for Community Wellbeing, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Centre for the Built Environment and Health, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia; National Health and Medical Research Council Centre for Research Excellence in Healthy, Liveable Communities, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia b.giles-corti@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: Billie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Giles-Corti
authors.affiliation: McCaughey VicHealth Centre for Community Wellbeing, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; National Health and Medical Research Council Centre for Research Excellence in Healthy, Liveable Communities, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Hannah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Badland
authors.affiliation: McCaughey VicHealth Centre for Community Wellbeing, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; National Health and Medical Research Council Centre for Research Excellence in Healthy, Liveable Communities, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mavoa
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia; National Health and Medical Research Council Centre for Research Excellence in Healthy, Liveable Communities, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Gavin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Turrell
authors.affiliation: Centre for the Built Environment and Health, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia; National Health and Medical Research Council Centre for Research Excellence in Healthy, Liveable Communities, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bull
authors.affiliation: Centre for the Built Environment and Health, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia; National Health and Medical Research Council Centre for Research Excellence in Healthy, Liveable Communities, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Bryan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Boruff
authors.affiliation: Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; National Health and Medical Research Council Centre for Research Excellence in Healthy, Liveable Communities, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pettit
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bauman
authors.affiliation: Centre for the Built Environment and Health, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia; National Health and Medical Research Council Centre for Research Excellence in Healthy, Liveable Communities, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hooper
authors.affiliation: McCaughey VicHealth Centre for Community Wellbeing, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; National Health and Medical Research Council Centre for Research Excellence in Healthy, Liveable Communities, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Villanueva
authors.affiliation: School of Science and Health, University of Western Sydney, NSW, Australia; Centre for Health Research, School of Medicine, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia; National Health and Medical Research Council Centre for Research Excellence in Healthy, Liveable Communities, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Astell-Burt
authors.affiliation: School of Science and Health, University of Western Sydney, NSW, Australia; School of Geography and Geosciences, University of St Andrews, Scotland; National Health and Medical Research Council Centre for Research Excellence in Healthy, Liveable Communities, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Xiaoqi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research and Action in Public Health, University of Canberra, ACT, Australia.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Learnihan
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research and Action in Public Health, University of Canberra, ACT, Australia.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Davey
authors.affiliation: National Heart Foundation, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; National Health and Medical Research Council Centre for Research Excellence in Healthy, Liveable Communities, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Grenfell
authors.affiliation: NSW Ministry of Health, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thackway
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D001642:Bicycling; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002958:City Planning / Q000592:standards*; D004779:Environment Design / Q000592:standards*; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D012449:Safety / Q000592:standards; D064890:Social Determinants of Health; D014186:Transportation / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D016138:Walking