An analysis of the connection between built environment, physical activity and health: comparing three urban neighbourhoods from Shiraz, Iran

There is currently considerable interest in discovering the effects of physical form and built environment on the physical activities done by people. The increasing concerns of obesity, especially among children, women, and old people, increase the necessity of research in this area. However, most studies in this area are from western developed countries and their results cannot be transferred to developing countries where the economic and social context is different. This study attempted to investigate the link between built environment, socio-economics, and physical activity among adults by comparing three neighbourhoods from Shiraz, Iran, using multiple criteria, including analysis of variance (ANOVAs), t-tests, and the correlation coefficient. The hypothesis was that these variables were positively related to physical activity for either transportation or sporting/exercise/leisure activities. An integrated database of built environment characteristics and activity-related features was developed for a sample of specific residential locations (n = 328) in the metropolitan area of Shiraz, Iran, and then statistical methods were applied to test the hypothesis. The results from statistical and spatial analysis confirm that the built environment affects both travel and sporting/exercise/leisure activities. However, the patterns of activities are reasonably different from those discovered in developed countries due to considerable differences in social attitudes, lifestyles, and environmental design. In fact, improvements in the distribution and quality of urban services are also important in encouraging people to engage in physical activity; however, this is mediated by social and economic constraints.