Background

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this project is to develop a sustainable and feasible pedestrian plan to get more residents of the City of North Vancouver walking. This will be accomplished by improving the City’s use of green space and the areas surrounding them. Our study mapped out background information from multiple resources through the use of a GIS software, ArcMap, showing the current status of resources that affect walking in the City of North Vancouver.

We were able to generate three maps that reflect issues within and around greenspace:

1) A population distribution map that displays the proportion of residents within the

City of North Vancouver by dissemination area

2) A key amenities map that presents features within parks such as washrooms,

playgrounds, walkable trails, and picnic tables

3) And a proximity map that the shows distances from residential areas to parks.

Analyses of these greenspaces based on our maps show a lack of facilities that promote resident visitation to many parks. It was also found that changes to the infrastructure surrounding the green spaces are necessary in order to increase safety and walking in and around the areas.

The final recommendations for the City were made based on information shown in the generated maps. These include increasing the number of amenities (such as picnic tables, restrooms, and children's play areas) within each park as well as increasing how accessible parks are to the general public by enhancing road safety and displaying adequate directions to and within parks. Furthermore, we suggest to implement these recommendations initially to parks located within heavily-populated areas as these changes would affect a greater number of the City's residents.

BACKGROUND

As walking is one of the simplest recreational activities one can do to stay active, increasing factors that improve walkability is essential for public health. Previous studies have shown that exposure to green-space has benefits to health such as reducing stress and anxiety (Stigsdotter et al., 2010).

Therefore, by suggesting implementations that promote factors within and around parks and trails, we hope to make these areas increasingly accessible for the city’s residents, which in turn can elicit the positive health benefits associated with greenspace.

With approximately 54 parks and 5 trails, it is no surprise that the City of North Vancouver has one the highest levels of fitness compared to the rest of Canada (Statistics Canada Census, 2001).

RESEARCH QUESTION

What improvements to greenspace and its surrounding areas are needed to increase the City of North Vancouver's walkability and get its residents walking more?