Item - 2012.HL12.2
Tracking Status
- This item was considered by Board of Health on April 2, 2012 and was adopted with amendments.
HL12.2 - The Walkable City
- Decision Type:
- ACTION
- Status:
- Amended
- Wards:
- All
Board Decision
The Board of Health:
1. Forwarded this report to the Chief Planner and Executive Director of City Planning to support Official Plan policies and inform all planning studies in areas of Toronto with low walkability.
2. Forwarded this report to the Chief Planner and Executive Director of City Planning and the General Manager of Transportation Services to inform all studies and undertakings to improve the public realm in order to promote improved walkability.
3. Forwarded this report to the General Manager of Transportation Services and the Vice President, Asset Management, Toronto Hydro to support the development of a pedestrian-scale lighting program.
4. Forwarded this report to:
a. the Ontario Ministers of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Health and Long-Term Care, Transportation, Infrastructure, and the Environment;
b. the Ontario Public Health Association (OPHA), the Urban Public Health Network, the Heart and Stroke Foundations of Canada and Ontario, the Ontario Medical Association (OMA), the Medical Officers of Health of Durham Region, Peel Region and Halton Region, and the Ontario Lung Association;
c. the Ontario Professional Planners Institute (OPPI), Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP), the Canadian Urban Institute (CUI) and the Cities Centre at University of Toronto;
d. the Toronto Board of Trade and Conference Board of Canada;
e. Metrolinx, the Toronto Transit Commission, and the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA);
f. Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), Toronto Real Estate Board and the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD); and
g. the City Manager; the General Managers of Toronto Employment and Social Services and Toronto Community Housing Corporation; the Director of the Toronto Environment Office and the Executive Director of Social Development, Finance and Administration.
5. Requested the Medical Officer of Health to report to the Board of Health on establishing a Walkable City Committee as a sub-committee of the Board of Health, and include the following terms of reference:
a. the Walkable City Committee is to include residents who would apply to sit on the committee; and
b. the Walkable City Committee is to make recommendations to the Board of Health as to how to make Toronto a more walkable city.
Origin
Summary
The attached report, The Walkable City: Neighbourhood Design and Preferences, Travel Choices and Health, summarizes the findings of a residential preferences survey. This study examined the preferences of residents regarding walkable and transit-supportive neighbourhoods and specific features of those neighbourhoods. The results also highlight the relationship of travel choices, levels of physical activity, and body weights of residents in relation to the walkability of their current neighbourhoods and to their neighbourhood preferences.
This original research was conducted as part of the Healthy Canada by Design collaborative project funded by the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (CPAC) through the Coalitions Linking Action and Science for Prevention (CLASP) initiative. The full study was conducted in the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) and in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), but this report focuses on the GTA results only and highlights the findings for the City of Toronto. This study was done for Toronto Public Health (TPH) utilizing a methodology developed by Dr. Larry Frank and other health and planning experts at the firm Urban Design 4 Health.
The survey found that residents in the City of Toronto have a strong preference for walkable neighbourhoods including strong support for walkable neighbourhood features, such as shops and services within walking distance of homes. It also found that there is a strong unmet demand for more walkable neighbourhood features among residents in the City who currently live in automobile-oriented neighbourhoods. The survey found that residents who live in more walkable neighbourhoods walk more for utilitarian purposes (i.e. for everyday non-recreational activities), use transit more, drive less often and less far, and weigh less than residents who live in auto-oriented neighbourhoods, regardless of their neighbourhood preferences. This finding underlines the important role that neighbourhood design plays on travel choices, physical activity and health.
Background Information
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2012/hl/bgrd/backgroundfile-45933.pdf
(March 15, 2012) Attachment - The Walkable City (April 2012)
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2012/hl/bgrd/backgroundfile-45934.pdf
Communications
(March 31, 2012) E-mail from Paul Young (HL.New.HL12.2.2)
(April 2, 2012) Letter from Councillor Paula Fletcher, Ward 30, Toronto-Danforth (HL.New.HL12.2.3)
Speakers
Sharon Brodovsky, Program Director, Heart Healthy Children and Youth, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
Gil Penalosa, Executive Director, 8-80 Cities
Motions
That the Board of Health request the Medical Officer of Health to report to the Board of Health on establishing a Walkable City Committee as a sub-committee of the Board of Health, and include the following terms of reference:
1. the Walkable City Committee is to include residents who would apply to sit on the committee; and
2. the Walkable City Committee is to make recommendations to the Board of Health as to how to make Toronto a more walkable city.