Streets and People S2E25 PnP Anna Gurnhill on Designing Active Communities
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Aug 29, 2025 Anna Gurnhill, an expert in active living from the National Heart Foundation of Australia, shares her journey from cultural geography to promoting walkable communities. She discusses the Healthy Active by Design initiative and its crucial guidelines that foster physical activity and heart health. Anna highlights the challenges of peri-urban transport and advocates for community involvement in urban planning. She also outlines eight design features that enhance walkability and shares successful case studies, emphasizing the importance of mixed-use development and community advocacy.
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Health Benefits Of Walkability
- Walkable neighbourhoods significantly boost daily physical activity and heart-health outcomes.
- People in walkable areas are 1.5x more likely to meet activity targets and 2.8x more likely to have a healthy cardiovascular risk profile.
Peri-Urban Transport And Housing Link
- Outer suburbs face equity, time and transport costs that can negate housing affordability benefits.
- Designing housing and transport together is essential to avoid increased car dependency and urban sprawl.
Design Features To Prioritise
- Prioritise macro and micro design features like mixed use, integrated transport, shade, seating and footpath maintenance.
- Use Healthy Active by Design's eight features to guide planning and assign responsibilities across government levels.