Res Exerc Epidemiol 2012; 14(2): 118-124.
c 2012 by the Japanese Association of Exercise Epidemiology
Copyright ○【Review Article】

The Built Environment and Physical Activity Behaviour Change:
New Directions for Research?
Takemi Sugiyama 1)
1）Behavioural Epidemiology Laboratory, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute

ABSTRACT Environmental strategies to influence physical activity are considered effective for large
populations, as supportive environments are likely to assist many people to be active for long periods. Ecologicalmodels - that recognise the importance of multiple influences on physical activity, including individual, socialand environmental factors - provide theoretical underpinnings for research on environmental attributes. This
commentary reflects upon past research in this area, and proposes an extended ecological model, in which
physical activity is divided into adoption and maintenance. It is postulated that individual and social factors mayhelp people to initiate physical activity, while environmental factors may be more relevant to the maintenance ofphysical activity. Future studies need to examine the roles of individual, social and environmental factors inbringing about wide-reaching and sustained changes in physical activity.
Key words: ecological model, neighbourhood, active living, behaviour change
successful in long-term maintenance of behaviourchange.4) Such strategies also work for the limited
number of people who are willing to take part in a
behavioural change program. To address these shortcomings, a more comprehensive approach addressing
the context in which activity takes place has begun to
be advocated. As physical activity occurs in certain
settings, providing suitable opportunities for being
active and removing barriers for doing so can beeffective ways to facilitate physical activity. Building
on ecological models, which recognise the importanceof multi-level approaches encompassing individual,social and environmental factors in promoting physical activity (Figure 1),5,6) increasing research has
examined the role of environment in physical activity
participation. Studies have shown consistent associations of particular environmental attributes with

Research on the built environment and physicalactivity: Background
The health benefits of regular physical activity,
including reduced risk of developing chronic diseases
such as diabetes, heart disease and some cancers, arewell documented.1) Despite this compelling evidencebase and numerous public health efforts to promote
physical activity, the majority of adults are notsufficiently active. In Australia, more than 70% of
adults do not meet the minimum level of physicalactivity necessary to achieve health benefits, i.e.,
engaging in at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity
physical activity on five days a week. 2) Increasing
physical activity is a public health priority in the 21st
century.3)
Conventional strategies to promote physicalactivity focus on individual-level factors such as
motivation, self-efficacy and outcome expectations.
Although such individual-level approaches can beeffective in the short term, they tend to be less
Address for correspondence: Takemi Sugiyama;
Behavioural Epidemiology Laboratory, Baker IDI Heartand Diabetes Institute; 99 Commercial Road, Melbourne,
VIC 3004, Australia; takemi.sugiyama@bakeridi.edu.auFigure 1118

Schematic diagram of ecological modelRes Exerc Epidemiol 2012; 14(2): 118-124.

physical activity, and findings have been synthesised
in several review papers.7-9)
However, there are some methodological issues andunanswered questions in this study area. This article
briefly summarises past research on the built environment and physical activity, and identifies key stages in
its progress. I propose an extended ecological model,
in which physical activity is divided into adoption andmaintenance, and discuss potential future research
directions.

Many recent studies on environments with physicalactivity focus on moderate-intensity, domain-specificactivities (e.g., walking for recreation, cycling fortransport). Review papers synthesising findings fromsuch studies report that different environmental
attributes are relevant to physical activity for transportand for recreation, suggesting the importance of
examining domain-specific activities.7-9)
From overall environmental measures to specificattributes

From overall physical activity levels to specificactivities

Empirical research examining the relationship ofthe built environment with physical activity beganaround the 1990s,16,17) following the Ottawa Charterfor Health Promotion (1986), which argued theimportance of creating supportive environments forphysical activity.18) The initial challenge for publichealth researchers working on this topic was how to
operationalise the built environment. Concepts andmethods developed in the urban planning and transport sectors provided a theoretical and methodologicalbasis for this interdisciplinary research field. 19) A
fundamental principle that is embraced in later development is the concept of the 3Ds (density, diversityand design), which characterise environmental factorsthat influence people’s travel behaviours. 20) Higher
population density and land use diversity areimportant for physical activity, as neighbourhoods
with these characteristics tend to provide residents
with better access to a range of destinations, such as
shops, services, transport stops and recreational
facilities. Design, on the other hand, is mainly
concerned with the process to reach such destinations,
including sidewalk availability, street connectedness
and neighbourhood aesthetics. Thus, these 3Ds
capture both opportunities for physical activity (e.g.,places to walk to) and factors that make being active
an easy and pleasant choice. This conceptualisation
led to the development of ‘walkability’, a composite
measure consisting of residential density, land use mix
and street connectivity. 21,22) A number of studies havefound such overall measures to be significantly
associated with residents’ physical activity. 21,23,24)
These studies have shown the relevance of neighbourhood environments to residents’ activity patterns,

Earlier research on the built environment andphysical activity was concerned with the overall levelof physical activity, which includes moderate as well
as vigorous-intensity activity.10-12) The overall activity
level or total energy expenditure is obviously important from the perspective of health and fitness.
However, as research showed the health benefits ofmoderate-intensity physical activity and its applicability for a larger population, 13) moderate activity suchas walking, which can be incorporated into daily life,
began to play a more important role in populationlevel physical activity promotion. 14) For research on
environments and physical activity, the specific focus
on moderate-intensity activity is the first step toward abetter correspondence between behaviours and settings.
Physical activity has been further differentiated byits purposes. Typically, people engage in physicalactivity for transportation (to get to and from places);for recreation or exercise; for occupation; and fordomestic work. These different purposes (domains) do
not matter from a health perspective. However, inorder to increase physical activity, the distinctionneeds to be recognised as physical activities in these
specific domains are likely to be influenced bydifferent factors and entail different approaches forpromotion.7,15) Of these four domains, the transportation and recreation domains are often the focus ofresearch, as physical activity for these purposes ismore likely to be discretionary (compared tooccupational and domestic activity), and potentiallyamenable to change through multiple influences.

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Res Exerc Epidemiol 2012; 14(2): 118-124.

and provided empirical underpinnings for further
investigation of this topic.
The increased specificity of research focus
happened not only in physical activity but also in
relation to the environment. Overall measures such as
walkability advanced research by showing theirassociations with physical activity. However, in order
to assist practitioners (planners, designers) to build or
modify environments that facilitate physical activity,
specific environmental attributes that have higher
leverage in influencing behaviours needs to be
identified. Major constituents of the environment
relevant to active living are destinations and routes. 9)
Destinations provide opportunities for being active,
and routes are concerned with the process to get todestinations. For destinations, their presence, distance,
mixture of different types, and quality (e.g., attractiveness of parks) are likely to be related to residents’
activity. Potentially relevant route attributes include
the presence of sidewalks, patterns of street network,safety from crime and traffic (volume and speed).
Evidence accumulated from research examining suchspecific neighbourhood environmental attributes is
expected to inform planning policy and practice that
aim to facilitate residents’ physical activity. Research
to date seems to suggest that a compact neighbourhood with a range of destinations is likely to facilitate
active transport, and the quality of accessible facilities
such as neighbourhood parks is relevant to recreational physical activity. 9)

accelerometer and GPS (Global Positioning System)has found that about three quarters of participants’
activity occurred outside the 1 km buffer of theirhome.25) This suggests that the majority of people’s
activity may be happening outside their neighbourhood, and that existing studies using non-location
specific activity measures may underestimate themagnitude of the association between neighbourhood
environmental attributes and physical activity.
Although defining a neighbourhood is itself a difficult
task,26) future studies need to strive for a contextual
match in examining associations of environmental
attributes with physical activity.
New directions for research: Understanding andinfluencing the determinants of long-term physicalactivity patterns
Natural experiments.
A frequently-raised criticism about research on
environments and physical activity is that most studies
are cross-sectional and do not provide causal evidence.
In order to examine the causality between environmental changes and physical activity, some studies
have used ‘natural experiments’, and evaluatedphysical activity levels before and after substantial
environmental changes.27-30) However, evidence fromsuch studies appears to be mixed. Natural experiments
are important to advance our understanding and add
more confidence about the effectiveness of environmental approaches to promote physical activity.
However, researchers planning such studies have to be
kept informed about what environmental changes(new housing developments, new transport infrastructure, park improvements) are scheduled to takeplace in advance, so that they can arrange baseline
data collection. In addition, a longer study period may
be needed to detect the impact of environmental
changes. Natural experiments are thus opportunistic
and entail significant challenges to researchers.

The match of physical activity behaviours to thesettings in which they take place
A methodological issue in the research on the built
environment and physical activity is the mismatch
between where activity occurs and a setting whereenvironmental attributes are measured. Physicalactivity can take place in different settings (e.g.,neighbourhood, recreational facilities and workplace),but most existing studies measure non-location
specific activity, and examine if it is associated withneighbourhood environments. This has been pointed
out in a commentary by Giles-Corti,15) but lack ofcorrespondence between activity and setting is an
on-going research issue. A recent study using

Examining the determinants of physical activity
adoption and maintenance.
Another unanswered question, which has not been
well recognised, is whether environmental approaches
help residents to maintain physical activity. Habitual120

Res Exerc Epidemiol 2012; 14(2): 118-124.

physical activity that is sustained over time is known
to provide greater health benefits. 31,32) Current
physical activity guidelines also recommend ‘regular’participation in physical activity. 33) People start toengage in physical activity for various reasons,
including encouragement from family or friends,
recommendations by experts, exposure to social
marketing or physical activity campaigns. The initial
behaviour change may be influenced more bypsychosocial factors such as motivation and support.
However, for those who have started physical activity,
the availability of infrastructure for activity (e.g.,sidewalks, bike paths, parks) or access to settings
where they can engage in activity may be required forthem to continue physical activity. Although previous
studies have suggested this as a potential advantage
of environmental approaches over individual-levelapproaches,5,34) only a small number of empiricalstudies to date have examined associations of environmental attributes (either overall or specific measures)with a long-term pattern of physical activity. For
instance, an Australian study has shown that middleto-older aged adults living in high walkable areas areless likely to decrease their walking for transport overfour years.35) Another Australian study, focusing onmothers, identified positive perceptions of local
environmental attributes to be associated with increasing and maintaining walking.36) Further studies indifferent countries using broader samples are needed
to identify environmental attributes that facilitate
habitual participation in physical activity.

have different roles in physical activity adoption andmaintenance. Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram ofthis extended ecological model with hypotheticalpaths. A major research question derived from such amodel is to identify environmental factors that willlead to maintenance of physical activity, which is
initiated by individual-level or community-level interventions. For instance, social marketing for active
commuting may encourage people to try cycling forcommuting, but this behaviour change may besustained only in areas where there are accessible
cycle paths to central business districts.
Measures to accurately characterise long-term physicalactivity patterns.
Longitudinal studies rely on measures collected at
discrete observation points to identify changes invariables of interest. Such methods are used to infer
the pattern of physical activity, i.e., a survey
instrument administered at several time points. 37)
However, most physical activity questionnaires
measure behaviours within a short timeframe, such as
in the last seven days or in a typical week. 38,39)
Fluctuation in physical activity behaviours between
the observation points may lead to misclassification ofparticipants. In order to accurately characterise longterm physical activity patterns, new measures mayneed to be developed. Such measures may involve a
retrospective questionnaire,40) conventional or technology-based activity log41) or continuous devicebased monitoring.31) Developing easy-to-implement
and reliable measures to identify the adoption andmaintenance of physical activity is an importantresearch agenda.

Expanding ecological models.
The subdivision of physical activity into adoption
and maintenance may be applied to ecological models.
This will add a new dimension to these models as it
can be postulated that factors at different levels may

Applying ecological models to sedentary behaviour.
Emerging research has shown that in addition tolack of physical activity, prolonged sitting at home, intransport and at work is associated with increased riskof diabetes, cardiovascular disease and premature
mortality.42-44) The built environment is likely to be
relevant to how long people sit in these domains, andan ecological model for this behaviour has beendeveloped.45) However, relatively little is known about
environmental factors associated with sedentary
behaviour, except for a few studies that investigatedFigure 2 Schematic diagram of extended ecological model(with hypothetical paths)

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Res Exerc Epidemiol 2012; 14(2): 118-124.

the role of neighbourhood walkability in sitting. 46,47)
Further studies examining determinants of prolonged
sitting (cross-sectional) and reduction of sitting(longitudinal) are recommended.

Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2009.
Available from: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/
abs@.nsf/mf/4835.0.55.001.
3） Blair SN. Physical inactivity: The biggest publichealth problem of the 21st century. Br J Sports
Med. 2009; 43: 1-2.
4） Marcus BH, Dubbert PM, Forsyth LH, et al.
Physical activity behavior change: Issues in
adoption and maintenance. Health Psychol. 2000;
19: 32-41.
5） Sallis JE, Cervero RB, Ascher W, Henderson KA,
Kraft MK, Kerr J. An ecological approach tocreating active living communities. Ann Rev
Public Health. 2006; 27: 297-322.
6） Sallis JF, Owen N, Fisher EB. Ecological modelsof health behavior. In: Glanz K, Rimer BK,
Viswanath K, editors. Health behavior and healtheducation: Theory, research, and practice, 4thedition. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2008, p.
465-86.
7） Owen N, Humpel N, Leslie E, Bauman A, Sallis
JF. Understanding environmental influences on
walking: Review and research agenda. Am J Prev
Med. 2004; 27: 67-76.
8） Saelens BE, Handy SL. Built environment
correlates of walking: A review. Med Sci Sports
Exerc. 2008; 40: S550-66.
9） Sugiyama T, Neuhaus M, Cole R, Giles-Corti B,
Owen N. Destination and route attributes associated with adults’ walking: A review. Med Sci
Sports Exerc. 2012; 44: 1275-86.
10） Leslie E, Owen N, Salmon J, Bauman A, Sallis
JF, Lo SK. Insufficiently active Australiancollege students: Perceived personal, social, andenvironmental influences. Prev Med. 1999; 28:
20-7.
11） Brownson RC, Baker EA, Housemann RA,
Brennan LK, Bacak SJ. Environmental andpolicy determinants of physical activity in the
United States. Am J Public Health. 2001; 91:
1995-2003.
12） De Bourdeaudhuij I, Sallis JF, Saelens BE.
Environmental correlates of physical activity in asample of Belgian adults. Am J Health Promot.
2003; 18: 83-92.
13） Blair SN, Connelly JC. How much physicalConclusion
A large number of studies have consistently shownneighbourhood environmental attributes to be associated with residents’ physical activity. One way toadvance research on this topic, building on theexisting cross-sectional studies, is to evaluate naturalexperiments, examining the impact of environmental
changes. However, such studies have to rely on appropriate opportunities and involve practical implementation issues. In this commentary, I proposed
investigation of environmental factors that facilitate
long-term maintenance of physical activity. This research topic is framed within an extended ecologicalmodel, which distinguishes adoption and maintenanceof physical activity. This model suggests that individual, social and environmental factors may workat different stages in the process toward habitualparticipation in physical activity. In order to move thisresearch agenda forward, researchers working on
physical activity interventions, psychosocial correlates
and environmental correlates of physical activity need
to work together to identify a broader set of approaches that will help people to achieve physicalactivity maintenance.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Professor NevilleOwen for his valuable comments in preparing themanuscript. The author is supported by a Program
Grant #569940 from the National Health and Medical
Research Council of Australia, and in part by theVictorian Government’s Operational Infrastructure
Support Program.
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【要

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約】

環境と身体活動の変化：新しい研究の方向性
杉山

岳巳 1)

身体活動の地域レベルでの推進を図るうえで環境を用いたアプローチが有効であると考えられている。身体活動には個人，集団，環境等の異なる要因がかかわっており，エコロジカルモデルはこれらの多レベルの要因を取り込んだ介入の重要性を指摘している。本総説はこれまでの身体活動と環境に関する研究を振り返り，身体活動を実行（開始）と維持の異なる段階に分ける新しいモデルを提示している。このモデルにおいて個人，集団の要因はより実行段階にかかわっており，環境要因はより維持に貢献していると仮定することができる。今後の研究においてはどのレベルの要因が身体活動の定着へのプロセスにどのようにかかわっているかを検討することが必要である。
Key words: エコロジカルモデル，近隣環境，生活スタイル，行動変容

1）Behavioural Epidemiology Laboratory, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia

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