Can the impact on health of a government policy designed to create more liveable neighbourhoods be evaluated? An overview of the RESIDential Environment Project.

There is growing interest in the impact of community design on the health of residents. In 1998, the Western Australian Government began a trial of new subdivision design codes (i.e.

Evaluation of the implementation of a state government community design policy aimed at increasing local walking: design issues and baseline results from RESIDE, Perth Western Australia.

Objectives: To describe the design and baseline results of an evaluation of the Western Australian government's pedestrian-friendly subdivision design code (Liveable Neighborhood (LN) Guidelines).

Methods: Baseline results (2003-2005) from a longitudinal study of people (n=1813) moving into new housing developments: 18 Liveable, 11 Hybrid and 45 Conventional (i.e.

Development of a reliable measure of walking within and outside the local neighborhood: RESIDE's Neighborhood Physical Activity Questionnaire.

Background: The RESIDential Environment project (RESIDE) is a longitudinal study evaluating the impact of a new residential design code on walking.

Objective: To develop a reliable measure of walking--undertaken within and outside the neighborhood--and overall physical activity.

Methods: A test-retest reliability study was undertaken (n = 82, mean age 39 years).

Developing a reliable audit instrument to measure the physical environment for physical activity.

Background: The physical environment plays an important role in influencing participation in physical activity, although which factors of the physical environment have the greatest effect on patterns of activity remain to be determined. We describe the development of a comprehensive instrument to measure the physical environmental factors that may influence walking and cycling in local neighborhoods and report on its reliability.

Methods: Following consultation with experts from a variety of fields and a literature search, we developed a Systematic Pedestrian and Cycling Environmental Scan (SPACES) instrument and used it to collect data over a total of 1987 kilometers of roads in metropolitan Perth, Western Australia.