Infrastructure for active transport in Tromsø – an urban design study

Background: Physiotherapists have a well-established focus on improving health at individual and group levels but have developed less competence to contribute at system levels to promote public health and sustainable societies. Promoting knowledge and implementation of active transport, which refers to different ways of moving from one place to another by actively using one's own body, appears a familiar arena to start getting involved in system levels and is considered an essential strategy for sustainable development. Purpose: To explore how well Tromsø is designed for active transport in the form of cycling, to gain a better understanding of (infra)structural factors that affect people's ability to use active means of transport and lay a foundation for proposals for improvement measures. The use of research approaches not common in physiotherapy gave us an additional angle to highlight opportunities for physiotherapy research that open in this field. Method: We adapted an urban design study method by starting from the Cycling Strategy for Tromsø and a combination of field observation and two different site analysis tools. Results and conclusion: Our assessment of two sections of the cycling network identified as "particularly well" and "particularly poorly" designed indicates that Tromsø is not sufficiently well designed for cycling to be perceived as a better year-round alternative to other means of transport and does not achieve its own ambitions for cycling in the city. Our research approach points to several exciting opportunities for future physiotherapy research and practice as we increase our engagement in public health and societal sustainability at system levels.