Piloting the Kids in the City study

The Kids in the City study is one of the projects involving children, independent mobility and the environment. For this study we are recruiting 120 8-11 year olds from neighbourhoods with diverse built environment characteristics. For example, some neighbourhoods are more walkable than others, whereas some have better access to different destinations.

We plan to measure where children go and how physically active they are by getting them to wear GPS units and accelerometers for seven days. Main data collection is this year, but at the end of last year we did a small pilot study to test the methodology, and I'm very glad we did!

Because our data collection strategy changed between the proposal and the project there were lots of issues that we hadn't considered (e.g. recharging 25 plus GPS units + running a couple of laptops off one powerpoint might not be a great idea). Anyway, the pilot was very useful and now I have some pilot data to try and make sense of.

Can Virtual Streetscape Audits Reliably Replace Physical Streetscape Audits?

Here we examined the use of google streetview to conduct virtual streetscape audits. We found that in general it provided a cheaper and reliable alternative to conducting the audits in person.

Can Virtual Streetscape Audits Reliably Replace Physical Streetscape Audits?

New Research Projects: Children, Independent Mobility and Neighbourhood Environment

We recently received funding for a couple of projects that will at children's independent mobility in the city and explore how it's relationship to the built environment.

The first project is looking at the relationship between independent mobility, physical activity and the neighbourhood. This project involves both quantitative and qualitative data collection

The second project is mainly qualitative and involves trying to understand opportunities for play and independent activity for children living in medium an high density housing in Auckland.

Both projects use GPS to collect information on travel and mobility.

We have just started the pilot for the first project and I'm currently trying to figure out the logistics of managing the quite intensive data collection.

Measuring Neighbourhood Walkability in NZ Cities

The Measuring Neighbourhood Walkability in NZ Cities report is available for download from SHORE or Knowledge Auckland.

The report describes three measures of transport-related urban form that are being

developed using GIS and applied in New Zealand cities. The three measures are

• Walkability Index (combining street connectivity, dwelling density, land-use

mix, and retail floor area ratio)

• Neighbourhood Destinations Accessibility Index (NDAI)

• Land Use and Public Transport Accessibility Index (LUPTAI)

GPS, GIS and Accelerometer Methodology issues paper published

Our paper looking at methodological issues (there are lots of them!) in using GPS, GIS and Accelerometery was published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health. A nice start to 2010!

Combining GPS, GIS, and Accelerometry: Methodological Issues in the Assessment of Location and Intensity of Travel Behaviors
Authors: Melody Oliver, Hannah Badland, Suzanne Mavoa, Mitch Duncan, Scott Duncan

Hello Blogger!

I have copied my whowherewhy.wordpress.com blog over to this blog because I want more control of the template.

This will be my new blog home until I get itchy feet again.

New GPS in Health Research Network (GPS-HRN) website

The GPS in Health Research Network (GPS-HRN) is an international network of academics and health researchers interested in GPS technology.

The new website is now live www.gps-hrn.org