Public Health Department, City of Somerville, Massachusetts.
Am J Prev Med. 2009 Dec;37(6 Suppl 2):S386-94. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2009.09.010.
Somerville, Massachusetts, an ethnically diverse, urban community northwest of Boston, presents opportunities and challenges for active living. With a dense street grid, well-maintained sidewalks, neighborhood parks, and existing Community Path, Somerville is very walkable. However, two major surface arteries traverse and bisect neighborhoods, creating pedestrian safety and environmental justice issues.
Major goals included promoting increased collaboration and communication among existing active-living efforts; managing the Community Path extension project; encouraging Portuguese-speaking adults to incorporate daily physical activity; leveraging existing urban planning work to establish secure, attractive walking/biking corridors; and embedding active-living messages in everyday life.
The Somerville Active Living by Design Partnership (ALbD) successfully created a robust task force that was integrated with citywide active-living efforts, secured resources to increase infrastructure and support for active living, including city-level coordinator positions, and changed decision-making practices that led to incorporation of pedestrian and bicycle transportation priorities into city planning and that influenced the extension of the Community Path.
Partnerships must employ sustainability planning early on, utilize skilled facilitative leaders to manage leadership transitions, and engage new partners. Identifying, cultivating, and celebrating champions, especially those with political power, are critical. Working closely with research partners leads to rich data sources for planning and evaluation. Changing the built environment is difficult; working toward smaller wins is realistic and achievable.
The synergy of ALbD and other community interventions created a foundation for short-term successes and accelerated political-cultural changes already underway with respect to active living.
马萨诸塞州萨默维尔市是一个种族多元化的城市社区，位于波士顿西北部，为积极生活提供了机会和挑战。萨默维尔市街道网格密集，人行道维护良好，社区公园和现有的社区小路（Community Path）使其非常适合步行。然而，两条主要的地面动脉贯穿并分割了社区，造成了行人安全和环境公正问题。
主要目标包括促进现有积极生活努力之间的更多合作和沟通；管理社区小路延伸项目；鼓励讲葡萄牙语的成年人每天进行身体活动；利用现有的城市规划工作建立安全、有吸引力的步行/自行车道；并将积极生活信息嵌入日常生活中。
萨默维尔主动生活设计伙伴关系（Somerville Active Living by Design Partnership，ALbD）成功创建了一个强大的工作队，该工作队与全市范围内的积极生活努力相整合，争取资源以增加基础设施和对积极生活的支持，包括市级协调员职位，并改变决策实践，将行人和自行车交通优先事项纳入城市规划，并影响社区小路的延伸。
合作伙伴关系必须尽早进行可持续性规划，利用熟练的领导能力来管理领导层的过渡，并吸引新的合作伙伴。确定、培养和庆祝拥护者，特别是那些具有政治权力的人，是至关重要的。与研究合作伙伴密切合作可提供丰富的规划和评估数据来源。改变建成环境是困难的；朝着较小的胜利努力是现实可行的。
ALbD 及其它社区干预措施的协同作用为短期成功奠定了基础，并加速了积极生活方面已经在进行的政治文化变革。
