Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 16, 2026

Four Temporary Waterslide Designs Adapted to Different Slope Conditions to Encourage Child Socialization in Playgrounds
Published on: December 9, 2022
Transforming a small midwestern city for physical activity: from the sidewalks up
Kristin Hendricks1, Risa Wilkerson, Christine Vogt
1Governor's Council on Physical Fitness, Health, and Sports, Lansing, MI, USA.
Background:
Jackson, Michigan (population 36,000) started active living interventions to help solve residents' low physical activity levels. Jackson's experience can serve as a case study for beginning similar efforts in smaller communities.
Methods:
In 2003, Jackson began a 3-prong community intervention utilizing the 5P model to increase safe physical activity opportunities and encourage walking and biking for short trips. The focus included work on projects at 1) elementary schools, 2) worksites, and 3) city-wide networks.
Results:
Evaluation results show changes in attitudes toward active transportation (8% increase in children who thought walking to school was "safer" postintervention), intentions to try active transportation (43% of Smart Commute Day participants "would" smart commute more often postevent), and increased physical activity (the percentage of students walking to school more than doubled at 3 of 4 intervention schools). In addition, a community level observational study was conducted at 10 locations in the city in 2005 and 2006. The number of people seen using active transportation increased from 1,028 in 2005 to 1,853 people in 2006 (a 63% increase).
Conclusions:
Local community-driven projects to increase walking and biking can be effective by utilizing a variety of interventions, from the individual to the policy level.
Related Concept Videos
Masonry Paving
Design Example: Joints in Concrete Pavements
Contraction joints are typically formed by sawing a groove into the concrete shortly after it has hardened. This creates a weakened vertical plane, deliberately encouraging cracking at...
Movement Joints in Buildings
The simplest type of movement joints, working joints, are...
Design Example: Sustainability in Concrete Building
There are multiple approaches to achieve sustainability in a commercial concrete building. For instance, construct a concrete parking area under the building, utilizing pervious concrete paver blocks in open areas to facilitate rainwater collection through an underground cistern.
Pumped Concrete
For direct-acting pumps, the concrete enters the pump via the inlet valve under the action of gravity and suction created by the movement of the piston. This concrete is then forced into the pipeline and out through the outlet valve by the forward movement...
Selected Data About Geographic Locations

