Street greenery may have a profound effect on residents\' active travel (AT), a mode of transportation involving walking and cycling. This study systematically reviewed the scientific evidence on the effects of street greenery on active travel.
A comprehensive search was performed using keywords and references in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Cochrane Library. The review included studies that met the following criteria: (1) Study design: experimental studies, cross sectional studies, (2) Participants: individuals of all ages, (3) Exposure variables: street greenery, including street vegetation (e.g., trees, shrubs, and lawns), (4) Outcomes: active travel behaviors (walking, cycling), (5) Article type: peer-reviewed articles, (6) Search time window: from the inception of relevant electronic literature database until 21 June 2023, (7) Geographic scope: worldwide; (8) Language: articles in English.
Twenty-six cross-sectional studies met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed. These studies employed objective metrics for assessing street greenery and varied methodologies to measure AT, including 14 using subjective measurements (like self-reported surveys), 10 using objective data (such as mobile app analytics), and two studies combined both approaches. This review identifies a generally positive impact of street greenery on active travel in various aspects. However, the extent of this influence varies with factors such as temporal factors (weekdays vs. weekends), demographic segments (age and gender), proximity parameters (buffer distances), and green space quantification techniques. Street greenness promotes active travel by enhancing environmental esthetics, safety, and comfort, while also improving air quality, reducing noise, and fostering social interactions. In addition, the study suggests that variables like weather, seasonality, and cultural context may also correlate with the effectiveness of street greenery in encouraging active travel.
Street greenery positively influences active travel, contributing to public health and environmental sustainability. However, the findings also indicate the need for more granular, experimental, and longitudinal studies to better understand this relationship and the underlying mechanisms. These insights are pivotal for urban planners and policymakers in optimizing green infrastructure to promote active transportation, taking into account local demographics, socio-economic factors, and urban design.

BACKGROUND: Physical activity is essential for promoting public health, and it is affected by the built environment at population level. Extensive evidence exists on the associations between the built environment and physical activity, but results are inconclusive for different age groups. Therefore, we conducted a narrative review summarizing existing reviews on the associations between the built environment and physical activity for children, adults and older people and synthesized their findings.
METHODS: We followed the PRISMA 2020 review procedure and searched for systematic reviews published between January 2010 and April 2022 in seven databases (Scopus, Web of Science, Medline, PsycINFO, EMBASE, SocIndex and Cochrane Library) using keywords related to the built environment, urban interventions, physical activity and health.
RESULTS: The selection process yielded 29 reviews with moderate to high quality. From these reviews, we identified 21 built environment characteristics, several of which were positively related to physical activity. For example, children and older people\'s physical activity was positively associated with pedestrian-friendly features and general safety. Furthermore, adults and older people\'s physical activity was positively related to the availability and accessibility of shops/commercial services and parks/open spaces. Lastly, the walkability index was positively associated with physical activity in every age group.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide valuable information on creating health-promoting urban environments for practitioners. Further research is needed to understand which characteristics make urban environments age friendly for physical activity. Special attention should be paid to less explored promising characteristics such as street lighting and the quality of green spaces.

Previous studies have examined the impact of greenway interventions on physical activity (PA); however, the results have been inconclusive. In order to address this issue, our study conducted a systematic review with meta-analysis to thoroughly evaluate the evidence and determine the effectiveness of greenway interventions in promoting PA.
We conducted a comprehensive search of literature databases, such as Web of Science, EMBASE, PubMed (via Medline), Cochrane Library, and Scopus, up to June 15, 2023. To synthesize the available evidence, we performed a meta-analysis using a random effects model. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the criteria developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale.
A total of 9 publications were identified, involving 6, 589 individuals. The overall quality of most included studies was rated as moderate to high. Our study found that the greenway was effective in promoting PA among participants. Specifically, active travel (AT) showed a standard mean difference (SMD) of 0.10 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.04 to 0.17], moderate-to-vigorous PA had an SMD of 0.11 (95% CI: 0.02 to 0.20), and total PA had an SMD of 0.14 (95% CI: 0.06 to 0.21). We also observed significant differences in AT levels among participants based on greenway characteristics, exposure distance, exposure duration, and male-to-female ratio.
Newly developed or upgraded greenways have been shown to effectively promote PA. Additionally, research suggests that the longer a greenway has been in existence, the greater the benefits it provides for PA. As a result, the construction of greenways should be recognized as an effective public health intervention.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, there has been a growing trend toward active travel. However, many cities have not given sufficient attention to active transportation, resulting in inadequate safety measures for pedestrians and cyclists. This issue becomes particularly critical around hospitals, closely associated with COVID-19 and where traffic can be more intricate and hazardous. Hence, there is a pressing need for a quantitative assessment of the active travel environment surrounding hospitals to obtain a practical evaluation and devise improvement strategies. This study constructs an Extenics evaluation model to assess the safety, accessibility, traffic pressure, convenience, and comfort of the active travel environment near Xiangya Hospital. Subsequently, optimization strategies are proposed based on the evaluation outcomes. The evaluation results show high traffic pressure around the hospital during peak hours while the infrastructure is insufficient. A diversion strategy must be developed based on the evaluation findings to address safety concerns. Furthermore, issues such as inadequate non-motorized lanes and accessibility facilities in the area are identified. Correspondingly, improvement strategies tailored to the specific problems of each street are suggested based on the evaluation results. While this research focuses on urban hospitals, it aims to offer valuable insights into evaluating and enhancing active travel environments around large public buildings.

Automobile dependence and physical inactivity have become common health challenges for residents in large suburban residential areas. Limited literature has examined the associations between the built environment and active travel in such residential areas and the differences in these associations among residents from different neighborhoods. To avoid inaccurate results potentially derived from residence-based measures, we adopt a mobility-based approach for environmental exposure assessment. Using GPS data from 530 trips made by 98 participants in a large residential area in Shanghai, we investigate the relationships between neighborhood types, pollution perceptions, built environment features and active travel. The results indicate that residents in affordable and relocation housing make fewer active trips than those in market-rate housing, while the built environment seems to mitigate this difference. Sports facilities promote active travel while commercial facilities and road intersections discourage it. We identify significant interactions between the percentage of green space and neighborhood type, as well as floor area ratio and air pollution perception. Interventions promoting active travel include active-travel-friendly design for commercial facilities and road intersections, the provision of more sports facilities, a careful increase in floor area ratio, and the provision of more green space that is attractive to residents from different neighborhoods.

BACKGROUND: Extensive research has shown that the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically impacted the daily mobility of older adults. However, very little attention has been paid to the role of individual and built environmental factors in decline in older adults\' daily mobility during the pandemic.
METHODS: Based on a cohort survey of 741 older adults in Hong Kong, we conducted a one-way ANOVA to explore the differences in determinants (individual or environmental factors) of older adults\' daily mobility between before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, multilevel linear regression was performed to examine how individual characteristics and built environment factors are associated with changes in older adults\' daily mobility during the pandemic.
RESULTS: Results show that the duration of active travel declined from 174.72 to 76.92 min per week, and that the public transport use frequency decreased from an average of 6.14 to 3.96 trips per week during the COVID-19 pandemic (before the rollout of vaccination programme). We also found residential density (p < 0.05) and the number of bus stop was negatively associated with the decline in their active travel (p < 0.01), while a higher destination mix was associated with more significant decrease in active travel (p < 0.01). A higher availability of recreational facilities in neighbourhoods was associated with a greater decrease in public transport use (p < 0.05). In addition, those who were older or having depressive symptoms, which are considered a vulnerable group, were negatively associated with decrease in their mobility (p < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: Maintaining mobility and social interactions are crucial for older adults\' health during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study found that individual and environmental factors differentially affected older adults\' active travel and public transport use during the pandemic. Our findings contribute to understanding the COVID-19 impact on daily mobility in older adults and support more effective active travel promotion policies in the post-pandemic future.

Little is known about the relationship of active travel to school (ATS) with physical activity (PA) and screen time (ST) by individual and parental characteristics among adolescents, especially in China. To address the research gap, this study aimed to explore the difference of sex, age, living environment, parental occupation and education level in the relationship of ATS with PA and ST among students of grades 7-12 (aged 10-18 years) using cross-sectional data. In 13 cities of Hubei province, China, students from 39 public schools were recruited to engage in the survey. In total, 5,898 students (response rate = 89.6%) were invited into this study. Participants were required to report their ATS (including its types), PA and ST as well as sociodemographic information using a validated questionnaire. Descriptive analyses were used to report the information of all variables. Regression models were used to analyse the relationships of ATS and its types with PA and ST. In a total of 4,128 participants (boys: 50.9%; younger adolescents: 61.9%) included in the final analysis, the proportion of those with ATS was 47.3%. Regarding the types of ATS, walking accounted for over 30%, while cycling was 13.2%. Participants with ATS were more likely to have sufficient PA (OR = 1.26, 95% CI: 1.14-1.39), especially among boys, younger adolescents and those with lower parental education level. However, ATS was not associated with ST (OR = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.86-1.01). Participants with cycling had a higher odds ratio of being physically active (OR for cycling = 1.47, 95% CI: 1.27-1.70; OR for walking = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.06-1.32). The association of ATS types with PA and ST differed by gender, age, living environment and parental educational level as well as occupations. ATS may be a useful approach to increase PA among adolescents, but this should be explained by individual and parental characteristics.

Alcohol is a global risk factor for road trauma. Although drink driving has received most of the scholarly attention, there is growing evidence of the risks of alcohol-impaired walking. Alcohol-impaired pedestrians are over-represented in fatal crashes compared to non-impaired pedestrians. Additionally, empirical evidence shows that alcohol intoxication impairs road-crossing judgements. Besides some limited early research, much is unknown about the global prevalence and determinants of alcohol-impaired walking. Understanding alcohol-impaired walking will support health promotion initiatives and injury prevention. The present investigation has three aims: (1) compare the prevalence of alcohol-impaired walking across countries; (2) identify international groups of pedestrians based on psychosocial factors (i.e., Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and perceptions of risk); and (3) investigate how segments of pedestrians form their intention for alcohol-impaired walking using the extended TPB (i.e. subjective norm, attitudes, perceived control, and perceived risk). A cross-sectional design was applied. The target behaviour question was \"have you been a pedestrian when your thinking or physical ability (balance/strength) is affected by alcohol?\" to ensure comparability across countries. Cluster analysis based on the extended TPB was used to identify groups of countries. Finally, regressions were used to predict pedestrians\' intentions per group. A total of 6,166 respondents (Age M(SD) = 29.4 (14.2); Males = 39.2%) completed the questionnaire, ranging from 12.6% from Russia to 2.2% from Finland. The proportion of participants who reported never engaging in alcohol-impaired walking in the last three months ranged from 30.1% (Spain) to 83.1% (Turkey). Four groups of countries were identified: group-1 (Czech Republic, Spain, and Australia), group-2 (Russia and Finland), group-3 (Japan), and group-4 (final ten countries including Colombia, China, and Romania). Pedestrian intentions to engage in alcohol- impaired walking are predicted by perceptions of risk and TPB-psychosocial factors in group-1 and group-4. Favourable TPB-beliefs and low perceived risk increased alcohol-impaired walking intentions. Conversely, subjective norms were not significant in group-2 and only perceived risk predicted intention in group-3. The willingness of pedestrians to walk when alcohol-impaired differs significantly across the countries in this study. Perceived risk was the only common predictor among the 16 countries.

Background/Objective: This study explored the association between active school travel (AST) and suicide attempts among adolescents in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Method: We used the data from the Global School-based Health Survey, including 127,097 adolescents aged 13-17 years from 34 LMICs. A self-reported survey was used to collect data on AST and suicide attempts as well as some variables. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to assess the association between AST and suicide attempts. A meta-analysis with random effects was undertaken to identify the difference in the association between AST and suicide attempts. Results: Across all the adolescents, the prevalence of AST was 37% and the prevalence of suicide attempts was 11.60%. Adolescents who engaged in AST were less likely to have suicide attempts irrespective of gender. The country-wise analysis indicated a large inconsistency in the association between AST and suicide attempt across the countries. Conclusions: AST would appear to be a protective factor for reducing suicide attempts among adolescents. However, the association between AST and suicide attempts varied greatly across the countries. Future studies should confirm the association between AST and suicide attempts.
Objetivo: Se exploró la asociación entre desplazamientos escolares activos (AST, por sus siglas en inglés) e intentos de suicidio entre adolescentes en países de ingresos bajos y medios. Método: Se utilizaron datos de la Global School-based Health Survey, que incluyó a 127.097 adolescentes de 13 a 17 años de 34 países de ingresos bajos y medios. Se utilizó una encuesta autoinformada para recopilar datos sobre AST e intentos de suicidio, así como otras variables. Se realizó una regresión logística multivariable para evaluar la asociación entre AST e intentos de suicidio. Se realizó un metanálisis con efectos aleatorios para identificar la diferencia en la asociación entre AST e intentos de suicidio. Resultados: La prevalencia de AST fue del 37% y la prevalencia de intentos de suicidio fue del 11,60%. Los adolescentes que participaron en AST tenían menos probabilidades de tener intentos de suicidio independientemente del sexo. El análisis por países indicó una gran inconsistencia en la asociación entre AST e intento de suicidio. Conclusiones: AST parece ser un factor protector para reducir los intentos de suicidio entre adolescentes. Sin embargo, la asociación entre AST e intentos de suicidio varió mucho entre países. Estudios futuros deberían confirmar la asociación entre AST e intentos de suicidio.

Exposure to air pollution and physical inactivity are both significant risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCDs). These risk factors are also linked so that the change in exposure in one will impact risks and benefits of the other. These links are well captured in the active transport (walking, cycling) health impact models, in which the increases in active transport leading to increased inhaled dose of air pollution. However, these links are more complex and go beyond the active transport research field. Hence, in this study, we aimed to summarize the empirical evidence on the links between air pollution and physical activity, and their combined effect on individual and population health.
We conducted a non-systematic mapping review of empirical and modelling evidence of the possible links between exposure to air pollution and physical activity published until Autumn 2019. We reviewed empirical evidence for the (i) impact of exposure to air pollution on physical activity behaviour, (ii) exposure to air pollution while engaged in physical activity and (iii) the short-term and (iv) long-term health effects of air pollution exposure on people engaged in physical activity. In addition, we reviewed (v) public health modelling studies that have quantified the combined effect of air pollution and physical activity. These broad research areas were identified through expert discussions, including two public events performed in health-related conferences.
The current literature suggests that air pollution may decrease physical activity levels during high air pollution episodes or may prevent people from engaging in physical activity overall in highly polluted environments. Several studies have estimated fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure in active transport environment in Europe and North-America, but the concentration in other regions, places for physical activity and for other air pollutants are poorly understood. Observational epidemiological studies provide some evidence for a possible interaction between air pollution and physical activity for acute health outcomes, while results for long-term effects are mixed with several studies suggesting small diminishing health gains from physical activity due to exposure to air pollution for long-term outcomes. Public health modelling studies have estimated that in most situations benefits of physical activity outweigh the risks of air pollution, at least in the active transport environment. However, overall evidence on all examined links is weak for low- and middle-income countries, for sensitive subpopulations (children, elderly, pregnant women, people with pre-existing conditions), and for indoor air pollution.
Physical activity and air pollution are linked through multiple mechanisms, and these relations could have important implications for public health, especially in locations with high air pollution concentrations. Overall, this review calls for international collaboration between air pollution and physical activity research fields to strengthen the evidence base on the links between both and on how policy options could potentially reduce risks and maximise health benefits.