From the New York University News:
Chinese cities are different from many Western cities in relation to urban design, and far more densely populated. But a new study by New York University and East China Normal University researchers has found that the design of the built environment influences how much walking and bicycling people do in Chinese cities where obesity and chronic diseases are at highly elevated levels and still rising.
“While not surprising,” write the authors in their study published in the journal Preventive Medicine, “this finding is important, as it demonstrates that the association between the design of the built environment and walking, which has been found to be linked in research in Western countries, also holds true in China.”
Entitled “Walking, obesity, and urban design in Chinese neighborhoods,” the study was authored by Mariela Alfonzo and Kristen Day of NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering, Zhan Guo of NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and Lin Lin of East China Normal University. Its principal finding, the researchers write, is “part of emerging evidence that will be of critical importance to persuade local government officials and developers of the value of pursuing more walkable urban development patterns.”
Read more through the link above.