Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Municipal policies may have a significant impact on the development of environments that provide sustainable opportunities for individuals to engage in healthy, active lifestyles. Little is known about how explicitly community planning in Canada integrates strategies to promote physical activity. In the context of Active Saskatchewan 2020 (AS2020), the strategic plan of Saskatchewan in motion, such an analysis would create a basis for identifying policy gaps and ongoing monitoring. The objective of this study was to review the official community plan (OCP) of each city in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada and identify policies supportive of physical activity.
METHODS: A conventional content analysis was completed of the OCPs of the 17 cities in Saskatchewan. Each OCP was reviewed and text extracted that related to supporting physical activity. Extracted text was thematically organized within and across cities, creating a set of indicators for ongoing monitoring.
RESULTS: Overall, 17 indicators were identified. The frequency of inclusion of these indicators within the 17 OCPs varied from 17.6% to 82.4%. The mean frequency of indicators identified per OCP was 7.4. The most commonly included indicators included residential neighbourhood plans associated with active living, downtown cycling and pedestrian plans, and joint-use agreements between communities and schools.
CONCLUSIONS: Most Saskatchewan OCPs make little direct reference to policies supportive of physical activity. Impacting community-level policy is an expected outcome of AS2020/Saskatchewan in motion. This study identifies a range of indicators for monitoring this process and highlights potential areas for policy development within OCPs.
Key words: Physical activity, community planning, policy, built environment, population health
Résumé
OBJECTIF: Les politiques municipales peuvent avoir des incidences considérables sur le développement de milieux offrant aux particuliers des possibilités durables de pratiquer des modes de vie sains et actifs. On ignore en général si la planification urbaine au Canada intègre explicitement des stratégies pour favoriser l’activité physique. Dans le contexte d’Active Saskatchewan 2020 (AS2020), le plan stratégique de Saskatchewan in motion, une telle analyse permettrait de déceler les lacunes dans les politiques et d’exercer une surveillance continue. Notre étude visait à examiner le plan d’urbanisme officiel (PUO) de chacune des villes de la province de la Saskatchewan, au Canada, pour y repérer les politiques propices à l’activité physique.
MÉTHODE: Nous avons effectué une analyse de contenu classique des PUO des 17 villes de la Saskatchewan. Nous avons examiné chaque PUO pour en extraire les passages ayant un lien avec le soutien de l’activité physique. Nous avons classé ces extraits par thème pour chaque ville et pour différentes villes, créant ainsi un jeu d’indicateurs pour l’exercice d’une surveillance continue.
RÉSULTATS: Globalement, 17 indicateurs ont été établis. La fréquence d’inclusion de ces indicateurs dans les 17 PUO variait entre 17,6 % et 82,4 %. La fréquence moyenne des indicateurs recensés était de 7,4 par PUO. Les indicateurs les plus communément utilisés étaient les plans de quartiers résidentiels associés à la vie active, les plans du réseau cyclable et piétonnier du centre-ville et les ententes d’utilisation commune entre les communautés et les écoles.
CONCLUSIONS: Dans la plupart des PUO de la Saskatchewan, il est rare que des politiques propices à l’activité physique soient directement mentionnées. AS2020 et Saskatchewan in motion auront probablement un effet sur les politiques d’urbanisme. Notre étude établit un jeu d’indicateurs pour surveiller ce processus et souligne les aspects qu’il serait possible d’améliorer en élaborant des politiques à intégrer dans les PUO.
Mots clés: activité physique, planification urbaine, politique (principe), milieu bâti, santé des populations
Footnotes
Acknowledgement: We would like to acknowledge research assistant Lauren White from the University of Toronto, who was the secondary reviewer of the OCPs.
Conflict of Interest: None to declare.
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