Planlegging for nærtur og folkehelse

Abstract

Facilitating walking close to residential areas is an important challenge to land-use planning. The article illuminates how efforts to improve conditions for and stimulate neighborhood walking are organized and integrated into municipal planning. We build mainly on case studies in three Norwegian municipalities of different sizes. Neighborhood walking is high on the political agenda. Nevertheless, walking is not very visible in the municipalities’ organization and is eroded in the planning system. To strengthen neighborhood walking, public health should be made into an overarching perspective for the interdisciplinary organization of walks. A main network for walking should be established through land-use planning, and substantially more emphasis should be given to achieving coherence between the ‘grey’ roads for walking within residential areas and the ‘green’ paths and roads for walking outside them.