2369 - Active Cities could be Good Business: An Economic Evaluation of a Complete Street Project in Santiago, Chile

Publication date: June 2018Source: Journal of Transport & Health, Volume 9, SupplementAuthor(s): Rodrigo Mora, Victor RoccoSince the nineties, many cities in developed countries, especially in North America and Australia, have initiated strategies aimed at tackling their acute obesity problem. Promoting more active lifestyles has become a central part of contemporary urban policies in American, Canadian, Australian, and, to a lesser extent, European cities.One of the strategies to achieve this goal has been to transform auto-centered streets into safe, inclusive and vibrant places. That strategy has been known as the Complete Streets paradigm. Usually, these initiatives involve modifying street layouts to accommodate cyclists and transit as well as constructing street amenities that encourage a more active use on the part of visitors are residents.To date, there is evidence that these initiatives have lowered traffic speeds, thus increasing street safety and livability. It has been also reported that Complete Street strategies tend to improve non-motorized trips as well as increase land prices values. However, until now, most evidence comes from auto-centric, developed contexts (especially coming from USA), where cultural patterns are heavily inclined towards the private automobile. But what are the effects of Complete Street strategies in less developed (and car-dependent) contexts? This is the main question of this presentation. It examines the effects of a Complete Street ...
Source: Journal of Transport and Health - Category: Occupational Health Source Type: research