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. 2021 Jan;67:102489. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2020.102489

Table 2.

Key geographic characteristics calculated in studies included in this review.

Lead author [reference] Key geographic characteristics calculated*
Boone-Heinonen and Gordon-Larsen (2011) (Boone-Heinonen and Gordon-Larsen, 2011) 1Measures calculated at both time points. Street connectivity (ratio of observed to maximum possible route alternatives between nodes (intersections), 1 km buffer). Paid PA facilities (N/10,000 population, e.g., dance studios, basketball instruction, martial arts, athletic club, gymnasium, tennis club, basketball club, physical fitness facilities, bicycle rental, public golf courses, 3 km). Public PA facilities (N/10,000 population, 3 km). Landscape diversity (Simpson's diversity index, 1 km). Population density (N; calculated by averaging census block-group population counts, weighted according to the proportion of block-group area captured, 3 km). Area-level SES (median household income from census tract data in 1990 and 2000).
Boone-Heinonen et al. (2010a) (Boone-Heinonen et al., 2010a) 2Measures calculated at both time points. To account for slight inaccuracies in geocoded locations and inconsequential moves, residential relocation (mover vs. non-movers) was defined as > 1/4 mile Euclidean distance between waves 1 and 3 residential locations. Street connectivity (ratio of observed to maximum possible route alternatives between nodes (intersections), 1 km buffer). Paid PA facilities (N/10,000 population, e.g., dance studios, basketball instruction, martial arts, athletic club, gymnasium, tennis club, basketball club, physical fitness facilities, bicycle rental, public golf courses, 3 km). Public PA facilities (N/10,000 population, 3 km). Landscape diversity (Simpson's diversity index, 1 km). Population density (N; calculated by averaging census block-group population counts, weighted according to the proportion of block-group area captured, 3 km). Area-level SES (median household income from census tract data in 1990 and 2000).
Boone-Heinonen et al. (2010b) (Boone-Heinonen et al., 2010b) 3PA facility counts (N and N weighted by the inverse distance from residential address (facilities between 1 and 8 km; facilities within 1 km received weights of 1)). Two street connectivity measures, ‘link:node’ ratio and intersection density (3 or more-way intersections/km2). Area-level SES (median household income from census tract data in 1990 and 2000).
Bringolf-Isler et al. (2010) (Bringolf-Isler et al., 2010) 4Population and building density (N of inhabitants and buildings within 9 ha (ha)). Street density (total length of each type of street segment within varying buffers). Green space (N ha out of a square buffer of 25ha around residence; ha assigned green space if land use at center was park/woods/agriculture).
Buck et al. (2015) (Buck et al., 2015) 5Intersections (N). Public transit stations (N). Public open spaces (playgrounds, parks, public green spaces) (N).
Burgoine et al. (2015) (Burgoine et al., 2015) 6Route to school (●) - Takeaway food outlets (N). All food outlets (N). PA facilities (N). Green space (area/route length). Proportion of major roads (% of route that is on major road). Effective walkable area (ratio of length of route to Euclidean distance to school). Land use mix (sum of squares of % of each land use type along route).
7Home and school neighborhoods (○) - Takeaway food outlets (inverse distance weighting (IDW) sum of distance to all outlets). All food outlets (IDW sum of distance to all outlets). PA facilities (IDW sum of distance to all outlets). Green space (% of area). Proportion of major roads (length of major roads/total length of roads). Effective walkable area (ratio of street network area/Euclidean radius area). Connected node ratio of junctions to junctions and culs-de-sac. Land use mix (sum of squares of % of each land use in neighborhood).
Cain et al. (2014) (Cain et al., 2014) 8Walkability (index of residential density, intersection density, land use mix, retail floor area ratio) used as adjustment factor in analyses.
Carlson et al. (2017) (Carlson et al., 2017) 9Time in each of the following locations: home (50 m Euclidean buffer); home neighborhood (1 km street network buffer, excluding home Euclidean buffer); school (15 m around school parcel); school neighborhood (1 km street network buffer, excluding school parcel buffer); and all other locations.
Carlson et al. (2015) (Carlson et al., 2015) 10Net residential density (housing units per residential parcel). Intersection density (intersections per square km). Retail density (N of retail parcels; e.g., shopping centers, stores, banks). Walkability (index of residential density, intersection density, land use mix, retail floor area ratio). Entertainment density (N of entertainment parcels [non PA-related]; e.g., theaters, museums, social clubs).
Carlson et al. (2014) (Carlson et al., 2014) 11Residential density (housing units/residential parcel). Street connectivity (intersections/km2). Retail floor area ratio (building ft2/parcel ft2). Mixed use (including residential, retail, food and entertainment and office land use types). Cul-de-sac density (N of cul-de-sacs/km2). N parks per km2.
Carroll-Scott et al. (2013) (Carroll-Scott et al., 2013) 12Grocery stores (N). Convenience stores (N). Fast food restaurants (N). Parks (N; % of area).
Carver et al. (2010) (Carver et al., 2010) 13Local/residential roads (maximum speed of 50 km/h) (length; ratio to total length of all roads). Intersection density. Residing on a cul-de-sac (yes/no). Walking tracks (L). Speed humps (N). Gates/barriers on roads (N). Slow points, chicanes, sections of road narrowing (N). Traffic/pedestrian lights (N).
Carver et al. (2015) (Carver et al., 2015) 14Bike paths (N). Sports/recreational facilities (basketball court; netball court; tennis court; soccer field; sports center; skateboard/BMX park; swimming pool) (N). Accessible parks (had to at least partially overlap with the buffer area) (N; total area). Post offices (used as a proxy for shops) (P/A). Bike paths and shared walking/cycling paths (length).
Coughenour and Burns (2016) (Coughenour and Burns, 2016) 15Parks (N). Trailheads (N). Pay-for use PA facilities (N). Grocery stores (N). Fast food outlets (N).
Dalton et al. (2011) (Dalton et al., 2011) 16Residential density (N of housing units per acre of developed land). Intersection density (N of intersections with three or more legs per acre of developed land).
De Meester et al. (2012) (De Meester et al., 2012) 17Walkability index (high/low; land use mix, residential density, intersection density).
Dessing et al. (2016) (Dessing et al., 2016) 18Land use (4 category entropy index). Street type (%; residential, pedestrian path, separate bicycle path, arterial roads with a bicycle lane). Residential density (N of residents/km2). Traffic variables (junctions, traffic accidents, zebra crossings, street lights, traffic lights, speed bumps; all N/km). Water along route (average %/km, e.g., ponds, rivers lakes). Greenness along route (average %/km, e.g., bushes, grass plots, woods). Trees (N).
DeWeese et al. (2018) (DeWeese et al., 2018) 19Supermarket (P/A). Small grocery store (P/A). Convenience store (P/A). Fast food restaurant (P/A). Park (P/A). PA facility (P/A). Residential density (N of dwellings, high/low using median). Intersection density (N of intersections with 3 or more legs, high/low using median). Median household income used as adjustment factor (at block-level as well as individual level). Participants categorized into groups using latent class analyses.
Helbich et al. (2016) (Helbich et al., 2016) 20Culs-de-sac (%). 3-way intersections (%). 4-way intersections (%). Proportion of >4-way intersections (%). Shannon land-use diversity index (median (SD)). Shannon building usage mix (median (SD), IQR). Building-roughness index (normalized, median (SD), IQR, reflects height differences between a building and its neighbors). Closeness index (median (SD), IQR, describes the nearness/farness by measuring how difficult it is to go from location i to all other locations on the street network). Betweenness index (median (SD), IQR, quantifies which street segment will be busiest to move from location i to all other locations along the shortest path). Street density (median (SD), IQR). Major road/highway (P/A, Euclidean distance to nearest). Cycling path (% of length relative to overall street length). Distance to school (derived from GPS). Green space (% woods, grasslands, parks).
Hinckson et al. (2017) (Hinckson et al., 2017) 21Residential density (N/km2). Street intersection density (N/km2). Culs-de-sac (N/km2). Transit stops (N/km2). Parks (N). Land use mix (entropy index).
Ikeda et al. (2019) (Ikeda et al., 2019) 22Distance to school. Active Mobility Environment was a first-order factor (latent variable), collectively assessed by four observed variables: residential density (ratio of residential dwellings to the residential land area); street connectivity (ratio of number of intersections with three or more intersecting streets to the land area); high traffic exposure (length; weighted by an inverse softGIS route distance, using road classification as a proxy for traffic volume); and low traffic exposure (length; weighted by an inverse softGIS route distance, using road classification as a proxy for traffic volume).
Islam et al. (2014) (Islam et al., 2014) 23Total building footprint area (sum of footprint areas of all buildings within a buffer area). Gross building floor area (total of footprint areas of all buildings within the buffer area, multiplied by the respective number of floor levels). Street intersection density (N of >2 leg intersections). Street pattern (overall pattern in buffer, either: colony internal (restricted zone of government housing), spontaneous, or gridiron (master planned)).
Jauregui et al. (2016) (Jauregui et al., 2016) 24Street connectivity (>2-way intersection). Residential density (households/km2). Area-level SES. Walkability index: street connectivity, residential density (GIS), and land use and commercial mix (generated from a pedestrian environment scan).
Kyttä et al. (2012) (Kyttä et al., 2012) 25aResidential density (housing units per hectare). Green space (proportion of fields, forests, parks, and water area). Child population (proportion of birth to 15-year-olds within the buffer, calculated from city centroid data).25bChild-marked destinations of importance using public participation GIS methods.
Laxer and Janssen (2013) (Laxer and Janssen, 2013) 26Intersection density (N/km2). Average block length (km). Street connectivity (% of intersections >2-way). Low speed roads (% ≤ 50 km/h). Sidewalks (% roads covered by sidewalks). Mixed land use (% residential). Walkability scale developed using principal component analysis including land-use mix, low speed roads, intersection density, and sidewalk coverage. Parks and other public green space (including national parks, provincial parks, territorial parks, and municipal parks/sports fields, % of area). Open wooded areas (% of area). Culs-de-sac ((N of intersections-N of true intersections)/land area). Presence of yards at home (sum of scores (max 60) from 15 observation points plotted in each 1 km buffer in an evenly spaced grid (approximately 500 m apart in the X and Y directions from the buffer's center) within Google Earth Streetview, a 36- degree panoramic view was taken at each of the 15 points to measure the proportion of houses and other buildings that had a yard in front).
McGrath et al. (2016) (McGrath et al., 2016) 27Recreational amenity index: green space, beaches, and sports facilities (N). Food outlets (P/A of supermarkets, petrol stations, bakeries, greengrocers, butchers, fishmongers, convenience stores, and fast food stores). Walkability index: retail floor area ratio (retail building footprint area by the total retail parcel area); road intersection density (N of > 2-way intersections/neighborhood area); dwelling density (N of occupied private dwellings/residential land area); and land-use mix (entropy index).
Mecredy et al. (2011) (Mecredy et al., 2011) 28Composite street connectivity scale using: intersection density (N of nodes/total land area); average block length (mean length of blocks in the area, calculated as sum of the link length per area/N of nodes per area); connected node ratio (N of street intersections divided by N of intersections plus cul-de-sacs, calculated as N of real nodes/total N of nodes).
Mitchell et al. (2016) (Mitchell et al., 2016) 29Open space parks (N/km2 with no built recreational amenities). Parks with at least one sports field (N/km2 with at least one sports field (defined as tennis courts, soccer fields, baseball diamonds, or football fields)). Parks with at least one playground (N/km2 with at least one playground). Parks with both at least one sports field and playground (N/km2 with at least one sports field and at least one playground). Distance to the nearest school (km). Distance to the nearest recreational site (km). Land use mix (entropy score). Multi-use path space (km2). Intersection count (N of >2-way intersections/km2).
Mölenberg et al. (2019) (Mölenberg et al., 2019) 30New dedicated PA space (the intervention, P/A in buffer, distance to space).
Moran et al. (2017) (Moran et al., 2017) 31Walkability index (land use mix/entropy index, residential density, intersection density, retail floor area ratio). Residential density (N of households/km2). Intersection density (N of intersections/km2). Retail area (%; including shops, grocery stores, malls). Public institute area (%; including community centers, recreation facilities). Green open space area (%; including parks, playgrounds).
Nordbø et al. (2019) (Nordbø et al., 2019) 32Population density (N of residents/km2, 800 m buffer only). PA facilities/amenities (N of schools, libraries, churches, cinemas, indoor pools, shopping malls, community centers). Playgrounds/sports fields (N). Schools (P/A). Green space (% area of forests, marshland, parks, golf courses; 800 m buffer only). Parks (P/A).
Oliver et al. (2014) (Oliver et al., 2014) 33Distance to school. Neighborhood walkability measure for self-selection variable was calculated using: retail floor area ratio (retail building footprint area by the total retail parcel area), road intersection density (N of > 2-way intersections/neighborhood area), dwelling density (N of occupied private dwellings/residential land area), and land-use mix (entropy index).
Olsen et al. (2019) (Olsen et al., 2019) 34Grid cells (○) and35Home neighborhood (●) - Motorway or A (major) road (P/A). B or minor road (P/A). Railway stop (P/A). Bus stop (P/A). Food and/or drink retail (P/A). Primary school (P/A). Leisure center (P/A). Place of worship (P/A). Library (P/A). Derelict land (P/A). Private gardens (P/A). Playing field (P/A). Sports club (P/A). Woodland (P/A). Public park (P/A). Play park (P/A). Green verge (P/A). Other (P/A). Dense population (P/A). Urban (P/A). Income Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (quintiles of deprivation). Walkability score (defined using a composite ‘walkability score’ based on street/path connectivity, and dwelling density).
Sallis et al. (2015) (Sallis et al., 2015) 36Walkability index used as control variable, calculated from: net residential density; street connectivity; retail floor area ratio; and land use mix.
Sallis et al. (2018) (Sallis et al., 2018) 37Walkability index: net residential density; street connectivity; retail floor area ratio; and land use mix.
Smith et al. (2019) (Smith et al., 2019) 38Traffic speed exposure (ratio of high speed (>60 km/h), road length to low speed (<60 km/h), road length). Signalized crossings (N). Cycle paths (ratio of cycle path lengths to road lengths). Pedestrian network connectivity (PedShed: ratio of reachable pedestrian network area (network buffer area) to the maximum possible area (Euclidean buffer area)).
Tucker et al. (2009) (Tucker et al., 2009) 39Land use mix (entropy index). Recreation opportunities (N of publicly funded recreational facilities, including soccer fields, baseball diamonds, basketball courts, community centers, arenas, pools, tennis courts, playgrounds and wading pools). Level of park coverage (% of public parkland divided/total land area).
van Loon et al. (2014) (van Loon et al., 2014) 40Net commercial density. Net residential density. Land use mix. Intersection density in neighborhood and en-route to school (N of 4-way intersections). Cul-de-sac density. Proportion of low speed limit streets (>30 km/h). Parks (N). Population density of children. Child population (%). Distance to school, parks, other recreation sites.
Villanueva et al. (2012) (Villanueva et al., 2012) 41School neighborhood (2 km) - Walkability index: network connectivity and road traffic volume exposure. Home neighborhood (800 m) - Parks/greenspace (N). Utilitarian destinations (N). Recreation destinations (N).42Destinations43Walkability, SES
Wang et al. (2017) (Wang et al., 2017) 44Walkability index: net residential density; street connectivity; retail floor area ratio; land use mix. Parks (N). Recreation facilities (N).

1-44Detail for other GIS methods employed are provided in Table 1.

GIS = geographic information system, GPS = global positioning system, IQR = interquartile range, L = length, N = number, PA = physical activity, P/A = presence or absence, SD = standard deviation, SES = socio-economic status.