title: Grassroots projects aimed at the built environment: Association with neighbourhood deprivation, land-use mix and injury risk to road users.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  1) To describe grassroots projects aimed at the built environment and associated with active transportation on the Island of Montreal; and 2) to examine associations between the number of projects and indicators of neighbourhood material and social deprivation and the built environment.
  
  
  METHODS
  We identified funding agencies and community groups conducting projects on built environments throughout the Island of Montreal. Through website consultation and a snowballing procedure, we inventoried projects that aimed at transforming built environments and that were carried out by community organizations between January 1, 2006, and November 1, 2010. We coded and validated information about project activities and created an interactive map using Geoclip software. Correlational analyses quantified associations between number of projects, neighbourhood characteristics and deprivation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 134 community organizations were identified, and 183 grassroots projects were inventoried. A large number of projects were aimed at increasing awareness of/improving active or public transportation (n=95), improving road safety (n=84) and enhancing neighbourhood beautification and greening (n=69). The correlation between the presence of projects and the extent of neighbourhood material deprivation was small (Kendall's t=0.26, p&lt;0.001), but in areas with greater social deprivation there were more projects (Kendall's t=0.38, p&lt;0.001). Larger numbers of projects were also associated with the presence of more extensive land-use mix (Kendall's t=0.23, p&lt;0.001) and a greater proportion of road intersections with injured pedestrians, cyclists and motor vehicle users (Kendall's t=0.43, p&lt;0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is significant community mobilization around built environments and active transportation. Investigations of the implementation processes and impacts are warranted.
authors.forename: Anne Sophie
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Dubé
authors.forename: Maude
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beausoleil
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gosselin
authors.forename: Ginette
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Beaulme
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Paquin
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pelletier
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goudreau
authors.forename: Marie-Hélène
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Poirier
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Drouin
authors.affiliation: Département de médecine sociale et préventive, École de santé publique, Univertsité de Montréal / Centre de recherche CHUM. lise.gauvin.2@umontreal.ca.
authors.forename: Lise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gauvin
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001642:Bicycling / Q000293:injuries; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004779:Environment Design / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D011204:Poverty Areas; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012449:Safety; D014186:Transportation / Q000379:methods*; D016138:Walking / Q000293:injuries; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Sustainable transportation; active transportation; built environment; community mobilization; material and social deprivation