Health, Transport and Urban Planning: Quantifying the Links between Urban Assessment Models and Human Health

Abstract

We developed two simple, effective and consistent methods for predicting human health outcomes from physical activity in a typical urban development at a precinct scale. Considering the two primary transport outputs from an urban assessment model (vehicle kilometres travelled and mode share), we developed two methods using approaches based on the literature linking human health outcomes and transport. The two methods were applied to a case study and generated very similar results, demonstrating how a human health outcome from physical activity rates can be incorporated into an urban planning model and become part of the assessment process for urban development.