Healthy Community Design Baseline Project: Neighbourhood Design Survey and Physical-Form Indicators

Monday, November 18, 2019

Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDGPH) worked with four local municipalities (Centre Wellington, Orangeville, Guelph, and Shelburne) to collect measures (indicators) for how well the built environment in each community supports health.

  • The built environment refers to the human-made or modified physical surroundings in which people live, work, and play.
  • A survey was used to collect resident opinions about the design of their neighbourhoods and to examine how they travel (by car, walking, biking etc.) within their neighbourhood. 
  • Data was collected from other sources to measure physical components of the community related to neighbourhood design, transportation networks, natural environments, and food systems. 
  • Findings identified strengths in each community’s design and opportunities to work together to enhance elements of the built environment.
  • The project will be repeated in 5, 10, and 15 years to monitor and evaluate changes in the built environment.

Note: Appendices for the reports are available upon request. Contact us.