Project dates: September 2025 - August 2029
Principal Investigator: Ellen I
Increasing daily physical activity has assumed considerable public health significance in the past three decades, and recent efforts have expanded from targeting individual behavior change toward addressing environmental conditions that affect everyone within a community. The built environment and urban design are now recognized as primary drivers of achieving an active and healthy lifestyle. The Policy, Systems, and Environmental (PSE) framework comprises strategies for change that are both multi-sectoral and multi-level.
In Washington, DC, the 11th Street Bridge Park Project offers an unique opportunity for a natural experiment. It will connect one of the more affluent wards in DC (Ward 6) with the least affluent ward (Ward 8).
The study will examine the impact of the Bridge Park development on changes in the built environment, as well as on individual- and family-level physical activity patterns, dietary choices and other lifestyle behavior change within a one-mile radius of the park. It will also measure perceptions of neighborhood safety, social connectedness, and food security using an intergenerational approach.
Abstract on NIH RePORTER