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Community severance and health: what do we actually know?
Jennifer S Mindell1, Saffron Karlsen
1University College London, London, UK. j.mindell@ucl.ac.uk
Summary
Road traffic significantly reduces social contact and physical activity, impacting community well-being. However, direct links between community severance and health outcomes remain unproven, despite its known effects on social interaction.
Area of Science:
- Urban planning
- Public health
- Environmental psychology
Background:
- Community severance, caused by traffic, limits access to resources and social interaction.
- Previous studies show traffic volume inversely relates to social contacts.
- Social integration is linked to reduced mortality, comparable to smoking cessation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review existing evidence on community severance and its impacts.
- To identify knowledge gaps regarding community severance and health outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature search on community severance.
- Analysis of empirical evidence on traffic impacts on behavior and access.
Main Results:
- Traffic speed and volume demonstrably reduce physical activity, social interactions, children's play, and access to services.
- No studies have directly linked community severance to specific mental or physical health outcomes.
Conclusions:
- Community severance negatively affects physical activity and social contact.
- Further research is needed to establish the direct relationship between community severance and morbidity/mortality.
- Modern road design may offer potential solutions to mitigate community severance.
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