September 2013 - Parks & Recreation - 35

As a result of the HIA, the Advisory
Committee concluded that development of green space in the west side
has the potential to increase physical
activity and combat high obesity and
chronic disease rates in the community, which would also lead to improvements in mental and physical well-being. The proposed park would increase
social cohesion among residents by
providing a place for residents to gather. There is also potential for changes
in community and family economic
stability and an opportunity to increase
access to healthy food through community gardens and farmers' markets.
The Atlanta BeltLine HIA in Georgia involved more than a year of research and analysis on the potential
health benefits of the Atlanta BeltLine, a transit, trails, parks and redevelopment project that uses a 22-mile
loop of abandoned rail line. The HIA
identified five areas of potential health
impacts, which included access to
health-promoting amenities and goods
and opportunities for physical activity.
An interesting finding came from the
assessment of parks, which revealed
that 187,000 of the 213,000 residents
in the study area have park access. The
BeltLine would create new access to
parks for approximately 11,000 people, but an estimated 15,000 residents
would still be without. The HIA also
discovered that although the BeltLine
would improve Atlanta's ratio of park
acres to residents, the addition of
new park acres would be offset by an
increase in the population. The city
would therefore have to ensure that
additional park space is created in order to prevent the ratio of park acres to
residents from decreasing.
The assessment also shed light on
areas that have higher mortality rates
for chronic diseases linked to a lack
of physical activity. It was conclud-

ed that parks, trails and transit must
be accessible to these populations for
the BeltLine to make an impact.
Some of the more critical recommendations made as a result of the
HIA include:
Create additional park acres
throughout Atlanta to meet the city's
target of 10 acres per 1,000 people;
Where feasible, provide trail access
points every quarter mile;
Implement educational campaigns
in the parks, along the trails and in
the broader Atlanta community to
encourage physical activity; and
Create a variety of park types, including passive and active parks.
An HIA is an excellent tool for providing community leaders with the
information they need to make better decisions. Not only does an HIA

draw attention to the health implications of a policy, plan or program, it
also helps policymakers make budgetary decisions. However, it can be
costly and time-consuming, and it is
not always necessary for some proposed policies or projects.
To learn more, visit the Health Impact Project at www.healthimpact
project.org or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at www.
cdc.gov/healthyplaces/hia.htm. The
American Planning Association and
the National Association of County
and City Health Officials developed a
" how-to " guide for conducting HIAs,
available at http://advance.captus.
com/planning/hia2/home.aspx.
Zarnaaz Bashir is NRPA's Director of Strategic
Health Initiatives (zbashir@nrpa.org).

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Parks & Recreation

September 2013 - Parks & Recreation

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