Design and Social Structure

As part of a project for a Research Methods class that I am currently taking, we are required to compile a literature review for the beginning of our thesis.  While I was browsing through some articles I stumbled across one that really peaked my interest.  The article was produced by Harvard School of Public Health and in it the researchers studied if social disorder and the resulting lack of safety determine the physical activity level of the neighborhood in question.  The "social disorder" as they termed it included activities as innocent at loitering all the way up to the "purple leisure" activities such as alcohol consumption and even prostitution (Molnar, Gortmaker, Bull, & Buka, 2004).

The population the researchers studied was located in similar neighborhoods and city blocks in Chicago, and included roughly 9000 adults that were surveyed.  In addition, observation measures were taken to analyze the number of adults supervising children play, where children play as well as the presence of illicit activities.  Observations of gang markings and graffiti were also taken into account and even the number of what appeared to be abandoned cars on the street were analyzed to study what the researches determined to be the "social structure" of the neighborhood (Molnar, Gortmaker, Bull, & Buka, 2004). 

Youth's were then studied to determine their level of recreational activity, this being achieved through a self report.  As can be expected youth's in higher SES neighborhoods were reported to participate in more recreational activities than those in lower SES neighborhoods.  In addition, those whose BMI was in the recommend range also reported higher levels or recreation participation.  The study found that increasing the safety of the neighborhood in turn raised the level of recreation by 49 minutes per week, and neighborhoods with lower safety levels saw a decrease in recreation levels by 29 minutes per week(Molnar, Gortmaker, Bull, & Buka, 2004).  This is quite a disparity.  However, I am not surprised by these results.  Being a Landscape Architect, we are constantly drilled that the construct of the space designed will determine the users attracted.  So I can't help but wonder, is the failing social structure of these neighborhoods a product of poor design, or citizens just down on their luck?