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The neighbourhood built environment can support the physical activity of adults regardless of their individual-level socioeconomic status. However, physical activity supportive (walkable) neighbourhoods may not be accessible to those with lower incomes if homes in walkable neighbourhoods are too expensive. The objectives of this study were: 1) to estimate the associations between neighbourhood walkability and home values in Canadian cities, and 2) to test whether these associations differ by city size and residential property type composition within neighbourhoods. We linked built environment data from the 2016 Canadian Active Living Environments (Can-ALE) index with neighbourhood-level structural home characteristics and sociodemographic data from the 2016 Canadian census for 33,026 neighbourhoods across 31 Census Metropolitan Areas. We used multilevel linear regression models to estimate covariate-adjusted associations between neighbourhood walkability and natural-log median home values and tested city size and neighbourhood property type composition as moderators. There were no statistically significant associations between walkability and home values overall. The associations between neighbourhood walkability and home values were jointly moderated by city size and property type composition. For small and medium sized cities, within neighbourhoods containing a high proportion of detached homes, walkability was negatively associated with home values (b = -0.05, 95% CI: -0.10, -0.01; and, b = -0.04, 95% CI: -0.06, -0.02, for small and medium cities, respectively). However, for extra-large cities, within neighbourhoods containing a high proportion of detached homes, walkability was positively associated with home values (b = 0.06, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.10). Our findings suggest that, based on housing affordability, higher walkable neighbourhoods are likely accessible to lower income households that are situated in small and medium Canadian cities. In larger cities, however, municipal interventions (e.g., inclusionary zoning or targeted development of subsidized or social housing) may be needed to ensure equitable access to walkable neighbourhoods for lower income households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Accumulating evidence suggests that the built environment is associated with physical activity. The extent to which the built environment may support adherence to physical activity interventions is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the neighbourhood built environment constrains or facilitates adherence and steps taken during a 12-week internet-delivered pedometer-based physical activity intervention (UWALK). Method: The study was undertaken in Calgary (Canada) between May 2016 and August 2017. Inactive adults (n = 573) completed a telephone survey measuring sociodemographic characteristics and perceived neighbourhood walkability. Following the survey, participants were mailed a pedometer and instructions for joining UWALK. Participants were asked to report their daily pedometer steps into the online program on a weekly basis for 12 weeks (84 days). Walk Score® estimated objective neighbourhood walkability and the Neighbourhood Environment Walkability Scale–Abbreviated (NEWS-A) measured participants self-reported neighbourhood walkability. Regression models estimated covariate-adjusted associations of objective and self-reported walkability with: 1) adherence to the UWALK intervention (count of days with steps reported and count of days with 10000 steps reported), and; 2) average daily pedometer steps. Results: On average, participants undertook 8565 (SD = 3030) steps per day, reported steps on 67 (SD = 22.3) of the 84 days, and achieved ≥10000 steps on 22 (SD = 20.5) of the 84 days. Adjusting for covariates, a one-unit increase in self-reported walkability was associated on average with 45.76 (95CI 14.91, 76.61) more daily pedometer steps. Walk Score® was not significantly associated with steps. Neither objective nor self-reported walkability were significantly associated with the UWALK adherence outcomes. Conclusion: The neighbourhood built environment may support pedometer-measured physical activity but may not influence adherence to pedometer interventions. Perceived walkability may be more important than objectively-measured walkability in supporting physical activity during pedometer interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]