University of Northern Iowa UNI ScholarWorks Dissertations and Theses @ UNI Student Work 2019 The relationship of walkability, social capital and the built environment in a Blue Zones® demonstration site community Thomas Manford Flack University of Northern Iowa Let us know how access to this document benefits you Copyright ©2019 Thomas Manford Flack Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.edu/etd Part of the Environmental Public Health Commons, and the Social Policy Commons Recommended Citation Flack, Thomas Manford, "The relationship of walkability, social capital and the built environment in a Blue Zones® demonstration site community" (2019). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI.edu/etd/1003 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Work at UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses @ UNI by an authorized administrator of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact scholarworks@uni.
Copyright by THOMAS MANFORD FLACK 2019 All Rights Reserved THE RELATIONSHIP OF WALKABILITY, SOCIAL CAPITAL AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IN A BLUE ZONES® DEMONSTRATION SITE COMMUNITY An Abstract of a Dissertation Submitted In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education Approved: Dr. Edginton, Committee Chair Dr. Jennifer Waldron Dean of the Graduate College Thomas Manford Flack University of Northern Iowa December, 2019 ABSTRACT Today, communities throughout the world seek to design, develop, and organize their natural and manmade features to promote a higher quality of life and community livability. The term “built environment” includes both natural and manmade areas, facilities, and structures but also social and cultural factors which are unique to a given community; this term is used to frame a dialog around this topic (Flack et al.
Increasingly, greater attention has focused on crafting the built environment to promote more walkable streetscapes, and opportunities for community engagement and social capital have become more prominent in the minds of citizens, community developers, and public policy planners. The purpose of the study was to explore the relationship of the built environment, social capital, and walkability. In particular, the study was undertaken in a certified Blue Zones® project demonstration community. As such, the study seeks to explore how one’s perception of walkability and social capital influences one’s life’s activities.
There were 119 respondents in this study, 48 drawn from urban neighborhoods and 71 from suburban neighborhoods. Of the respondents, 75 (63.0%) were female and 41 (34. The majority of participants were 65 years and older (52. The majority of respondents resided in a household of two (46.
The most frequently reported income level was $50,000-$74,999, indicated by 31 (26. The educational attainment of respondents found that 76 (63.8%) held bachelor’s, graduate, or professional degrees. Respondents reported the actual number of locations to which they walked. The highest number reported was two locations by 36 (30.
Several null hypothesis statements were formulated from eight research questions. The majority of statistical calculations demonstrated no statistically significant differences among the hypothesis statements and therefore they were retained. A single hypothesis statement was rejected for Ho:1, which investigated neighborhood type when viewing walkability and social capital. Thus, it is somewhat evident that when viewing walkability and social capital by neighborhood, that urban neighborhoods reported stronger perception of walkability, while suburban neighborhoods reported a higher level of social capital.
THE RELATIONSHIP OF WALKABILITY, SOCIAL CAPITAL AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IN A BLUE ZONES® DEMONSTRATION SITE COMMUNITY A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education Approved: Dr. Edginton, Chair Dr. Oksana Grybovych, Committee Member Dr. Radhi Al-Mabuk, Committee Member Dr.
Christopher Kowalski, Committee Member Dr. Samuel Lankford, Outside Committee Member Thomas Manford Flack University of Northern Iowa December, 2019 ii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my father, Manford “Manny” Wesley Flack. My father was a quiet and reserved man of few words who never sought attention. That is, until the later years of his life when he discovered that by wearing his “WWII Veteran” hat, strangers would give him praise and thanks.
But then, my dad, and the other veterans of his generation, truly deserve our praise, and our thanks for what they endured, and were able to accomplish. My father did not live to see this day. I took too long and, I’m sorry dad. This dissertation is also dedicated to my mother Leota Beryl Flack.
My mother is the opposite in demeanor from my father. She has always been talkative and outgoing. Maybe for these reasons they complimented each other, and that made their relationship possible. She resides in the Iowa Veterans Home thanks to my father’s veteran’s benefits.
The top official at the facility is known as the commandant. He and his wife, have taken notice of my mother, visiting her occasionally and by having her join them at their table during special occasions. My mother wonders why the commandant and his wife have taken notice of her, but I feel that it is apparent why. Last, this dissertation is also dedicated to my daughter Hanna Michelle Flack.
She is finding her way in this world, and her story is just being written. Thank you, Hanna, for your love and support. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author would like to thank those individuals that provided support, guidance, and assistance for this endeavor. You are many, and your support is greatly appreciated.
Secondly, this author would like to thank the dissertation committee chair, Dr. Christopher Edginton for his support of this project. Edginton’s guidance, and assistance were invaluable to the completion of this venture. While the author had no intention of being his last student to finish the dissertation process, it however may be fitting for a number of reasons.
Third, the author would like to thank the committee members. I would like to thank Dr. Oksana Grybovych for her insightful comments and sticking with me over the years that it has taken to get to this point. I would like to also thank Dr.
Radhi Al-Mabuk, and Dr. Christopher Kowalski for agreeing to serve and provide support on my committee. A special thank you to Dr. Sam Lankford for his technical expertise, knowledge, and guidance, as well as his reassurance to the author that the work I had performed was “fine”, and I should not be worried.
It turns out, Dr. Lankford was right. Fourth, I would like to thank the Edginton’s. I did not get to this point alone, and I may have never gotten here at all without them.
I would also like to thank Julee Jacobson, Karen Petersen and Melanie Billington for helping the author navigate the graduate process and their patience regarding the multitude of requests for help from me over the years. And last, a special thanks to my cohort, officemate, colleague and friend, Dr. In many, if not all, of our communications of late, Dr. Fleming would invariably ask how the “D” was coming along.
Well, it’s finally “D” for done. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES. vi LIST OF FIGURES. viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION.
8 Purpose of the Study. 13 Statement of the Problem. 17 Definition of Terms. 17 Significance of the Study.
20 CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE. 55 Procedure for Data Collection. 57 Reliability and Validity. 58 Statistical Methodology and Data Analysis.
64 Return of Data. 74 Social Capital: Neighborhood and Community Social Environment. 80 Hypothesis Statements for Demographics, Walkability, Social Capital and Neighborhood Type. 83 Summary of Findings.
103 CHAPTER 5 SUMMARY, DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 106 Summary and Discussion. 106 Implications for Professional Practice. 116 Recommendations for Future Research.
122 APPENDIX A INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE AND INFORMED CONSENT. 130 APPENDIX B STUDY INSTRUMENT. 132 vi LIST OF TABLES PAGE Table 1 Literature Review Sources. 23 Table 2 Hypothesis Statements and Statistical Treatments.
62 Table 3 Frequency and percentage of response by neighborhood type. 66 Table 4 Gender of Respondents. 67 Table 5 Age of Respondents. 69 Table 7 Number of Household Members.
70 Table 8 Number of Individuals in Urban and Suburban neighborhoods. 71 Table 9 Estimated Household Income. 72 Table 10 Educational Achievement Level. 73 Table 11 Number of Potentially Walkable Locations.
75 Table 12 Number of Locations Walked To. 77 Table 13 Types of Dwellings. 78 Table 14 Perceptions of Walkability. 79 Table 15 Perceptions of Neighborhood and Community Social Environment.
81 Table 16 Community Participation. 82 Table 17 Walkability and Neighborhood Type Independent Samples t-Test. 84 Table 18 Social Capital and Neighborhood Type Independent Samples t-Test. 84 Table 19 Social Capital and Selected Demographic Variables One-way ANOVA.
85 Table 20 Social Capital and Household income Tukey HSD. 86 vii Table 21 Social Capital and Education Level Tukey HSD. 86 Table 22 Social Capital and Gender chi-square. 87 Table 23 Walkability and Selected Demographic Variables One-way ANOVA.
89 Table 24 Walkability and Number of Household Members Tukey HSD. 89 Table 25 Walkability and Gender chi-square. 90 Table 26 Gender and Neighborhood Type. 91 Table 27 Age and Neighborhood Type.
92 Table 28 Number of Household Members and Neighborhood Type. 92 Table 29 Number in Household and Neighborhood Type Post Hoc. 93 Table 30 Household Income and Neighborhood Type. 94 Table 31 Household Income and Neighborhood Type Post Hoc.
95 Table 32 Education level and Neighborhood type. 96 Table 33 Walkability, Social Capital, Neighborhood Type and Selected Demographic Variables. 97 Table 34 Blue Zones® Program Awareness by Neighborhood Type. 99 Table 35 Blue Zones® Program Participation by Neighborhood Type.
100 Table 36 Blue Zones® and Neighborhood Type. 101 Table 37 Blue Zones® Awareness in Selected Demographic Variables. 102 Table 38 Blue Zones® Participation and Selected Demographic Variables. 103 Table 39 Summary of Hypothesis Statements.
115 viii LIST OF FIGURES PAGE Figure 1. Lefebvre’s spatial triad depicting the inter-relationship among the three types of space that are produced. Adaptation of Lefebvre’s spatial triad with linkages to elements of the present study shown in yellow. Research map of methodology used in the study.
63 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION In 2011, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, announced his endorsement of the Healthiest State Initiative (“Blue Zones Project,” n.; Office of the Governor of Iowa, 2011). This initiative provided a platform for communities to identify with the Blue Zones® Project. A series of elements aimed at improving quality of life and community livability Blue Zones® demonstrate site communities often included elements such as enhancing walkability and improving social capital. More to the point, this investigation will concentrate on the relationships between social capital and walkability (as both a psychological construct and the physical configuration of the built environment) in Midwestern community.
The initiative, a partnership among Healthways®, Blue Cross Blue Shield®, and the Blue Zones® program, intended to transform the health and well-being of the state of Iowa and its residents for the better. The governor set an ambitious goal to reach the number one spot, up from 16th place, by the year 2016. The Blue Zones® concept stems from a pilot study on longevity conducted in Albert Lea Minnesota in 2009 (“Blue Zones Project,” n. It was from this pilot study that the “Power 9®” principles of the Blue Zones® program were developed and refined.
It has been well established in the literature that eating a healthy diet and engaging in regular physical activity are key components in a holistic regimen intended to bolster the efforts to prevent overweight and obesity and in turn the resulting non- communicable diseases associated with predominately sedentary lifestyles (Ekelund et 2 al., 2015; Heath et al. Further, one cannot ignore the staggering health care costs related to the conditions resulting from inactivity, obesity, and overweight (Heath et al.