Grantee Name
Center for Active Design, Inc.
Funding Area
Building Healthy Communities
Publication Date
June 2017
Grant Amount
$10,000
Grant Date:
April 2016 - June 2016
Active Design is an evidence-based approach that offers practical urban planning and architecture design solutions to support healthy communities.
Active Design elements—such as stairs, supportive walking and biking infrastructure, and on-site exercise facilities—can help transform the built environment and improve the physical and mental health outcomes for residents, especially those living in affordable housing. To help integrate cost-effective Active Design strategies into affordable housing, the Active Design Verified initiative was created to train developers on incorporating design elements and amenities that will promote health.
In 2016, NYHealth awarded the Center for Active Design, Inc., (CfAD) a grant to evaluate the impact of Active Design strategies on levels of physical activity among residents moving into Prospect Plaza, a newly constructed affordable housing building with Active Design elements in Brownsville, Brooklyn (an NYHealth Healthy Neighborhoods Fund site). Specifically, the CfAD sought to gather pre-data and record health measures and physical activity levels before residents moved into the new building to establish a point of comparison for a larger evaluation effort in the future.