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Please be advised: Slide Hill is temporarily closed for planned maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Blog

Active by Design

Feb 11, 2010 2:34 pm
Last week, the New York City released its new Active Design Guide­lines. The guide­lines pro­vide archi­tects and plan­ners with strate­gies to cre­ate designs that pro­mote phys­i­cal activ­i­ty for bet­ter health. The guide­lines are the first in the City to focus on the role of design in com­bat­ing obe­si­ty, which is one of the most urgent health crises fac­ing the city today. Many of the strate­gies are com­mon sense, and many are sup­port­ed by aca­d­e­m­ic research, but all use design to help us find ways to incor­po­rate healthy activ­i­ty into our dai­ly lives. West 8’s park and pub­lic space design  for Gov­er­nors Island will fea­ture a num­ber of these strate­gies, and we’ll show them to you in a future post. But first, here are some of the ways Gov­er­nors Island is already mak­ing it eas­i­er and more fun to get your heart rate up:

[cap­tion id=“attachment_2592” align=“aligncenter” width=“300” caption=“We chose play equip­ment every­one can enjoy, even grown-ups. ”][/​caption]

[cap­tion id=“attachment_2577” align=“aligncenter” width=“225” caption=“Signs show­ing walk­ing time to dif­fer­ent des­ti­na­tions on Gov­er­nors Island help peo­ple decide whether they can walk to their des­ti­na­tion or wait for an elec­tric tram. Pro­vid­ing peo­ple with infor­ma­tion to make deci­sions is an impor­tant active design strat­e­gy.”][/​caption] [cap­tion id=“attachment_2695” align=“aligncenter” width=“300” caption=“All of our more than five miles of car-free roads are scenic. You can’t help but choose to take the long way home. ”][/​caption]

[cap­tion id=“attachment_2596” align=“aligncenter” width=“300” caption=“Having flex­i­ble spaces and great pro­gram­ming part­ners are anoth­er strat­e­gy. Here, RECESS hosts a bad­minton tour­na­ment on Colonels Row.”][/​caption] [cap­tion id=“attachment_2696” align=“aligncenter” width=“300” caption=“We believe every­one should have the chance to ride a bike on Gov­er­nors Island. Bike and Rol­l’s Free Bike Fri­days have put more than 18,000 peo­ple on bikes.”][/​caption]

[cap­tion id=“attachment_2598” align=“aligncenter” width=“300” caption=“Just look­ing at the kale at Added Val­ue Farm on Gov­er­nors Island is good for you. ”][/​caption]
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