Early last year, New York City and AIA New York published the Active Design Guidelines. The guidelines suggest a clear corollation between the inclusion of specific design elements at various scales—open staircases in a building, neighborhood bikeways, a city’s land-use mix and open space—and an enhanced rate of physical activity among building users and city residents. Since their debut, the guidelines have sparked interest in other cities, such as Washington, D.C., and New Orleans, and have kicked off a national conversation about the potential for design to improve public health. The guidelines themselves are rife with real-world examples of design strategies that promote activity. We sifted through those, and through more besides, to identify a host of promising new directions for active design, shown in this slide show.
