Increases in Use and Activity Due to Urban Renewal: Effect of a Natural Experiment

Abstract

Introduction: Urban green space and other recreational facilities are associated with physical activity. For adolescents living in multistory housing, public outdoor spaces that support physical activity may play an important role in activity promotion strategies. However, stronger evidence for a relation between the built environment and adolescent physical activity is scarce.

Design: A natural experiment with a pre-experimental design was used with data collected in 2010 and 2012 before and after an urban renewal. Data were analyzed in 2016.

Setting/participants: Adolescents aged 11-16 years spending a minimum of 10 minutes daily within a 400-m buffer of the renewal district were included in the analyses, resulting in 354 adolescents at baseline and 319 post-renewal.

Intervention: A multicomponent urban renewal project of approximately 35 million Euros in a disadvantaged neighborhood in the capital of Denmark occurred between 2010 and 2012.

Main outcome measures: The main outcomes were changes in time spent and physical activity within the area among adolescents, measured by accelerometry (ActiGraph GT3X) and GPS devices (Qstarz BT-Q1000XT).

Results: Time spent in the area was greater in 2012 than 2010 with an additional 24.6 minutes per day (p=0.017). Of this time, 7.8 minutes were spent in light and 4.5 minutes in moderate to vigorous physical activity.

Conclusions: The present study indicates that a multicomponent urban renewal strategy in a disadvantaged district has the potential to increase time spent and physical activity in the district for adolescents living in or close to the district.