As part of PAPREN, we are conducting an applied evaluation project to examine longitudinal changes in activity-friendly zoning provisions nationwide and the relationship between such zoning and improvements in recreational physical activity and active travel to work as well as reductions in adult sedentary behavior and pedestrian fatalities. 

The study builds on a baseline study conducted by PAPREN co-PI, Dr. Jamie Chriqui at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where her team compiled zoning and land use laws/policies effective as of January 2010 for 4387 municipalities and unincorporated county areas located in the 495 most populous U.S. counties across 48 states and the District of Columbia. For PAPREN, Dr. Chriqui’s team is updating the zoning data for 2020 for 2,642 municipalities and unincorporated areas located in the most populous 250 counties across 43 states and the District of Columbia. 

The zoning codes for all study jurisdictions are evaluated by a team of urban planning and public health analysts that captures markers of active living based on the evidence from the literature related to the impact of the built environment on physical activity (e.g., mixed use development, parks/greenspace, trails, sidewalks, bike lanes, etc.). For this round, we will also be adding in additional markers that will be able to be used by PAPREN working groups for their projects (e.g., inclusionary zoning). 

The zoning data will be made available initially to the PAPREN working groups and then will be made publicly available for research purposes by interested parties. 

For additional information about the PAPREN Applied Evaluation Project, please contact:

Jamie F. Chriqui, PhD,MHS
Professor, School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago
jchriqui@uic.edu