Saidla Karl
Ph.D. Candidate - University of Ottawa, Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Human Kinetics, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Health Promot Int. 2018 Aug 1;33(4):600-609. doi: 10.1093/heapro/daw110.
The promotion of active transportation (AT-utilitarian trips including walking, cycling, and public transit use), represents a well-recognized opportunity for increasing physical activity. This study examines the strong AT success achieved in Helsinki, Finland (in 2013, the share of daily trips in Helsinki completed by AT was 77 per cent) from a political perspective. Helsinki represents a noteworthy example of AT success given important challenges including the region's relatively low population density, its difficult winter climate, and Finland's high driving rate. This research applied the advocacy coalition framework (ACF), a formal policy process theory from political science. Interviews were conducted with 23 AT experts in Helsinki. Document review was employed as a secondary method. Overall, the research indicates that Helsinki's success may be attributed to the long-term dominance of municipal transportation policy by a pro-AT advocacy coalition. When viewed from the perspective of health promotion, it is striking that this success is not strongly attributable to health considerations or efforts from health-related fields. Rather, the data suggest that the coalition, comprised of members from a variety of non-health fields, was most strongly motivated by a desire to protect a high degree of livability. Importantly, a number of significant historical events and background-level factors greatly facilitated success. Overall, these results suggest that health promotion advocates may have very useful allies in non-health sectors, and that awareness of the importance of political factors is likely to contribute to stronger health promotion efforts. Finally, several possibilities for related and further research are suggested.
推广主动出行（包括步行、骑自行车和使用公共交通的功利性出行）是公认的增加身体活动的契机。本研究从政治角度审视了芬兰赫尔辛基在主动出行方面取得的显著成功（2013年，赫尔辛基通过主动出行完成的日常出行比例达77%）。鉴于包括该地区相对较低的人口密度、恶劣的冬季气候以及芬兰较高的驾车率等重大挑战，赫尔辛基是主动出行成功的一个值得注意的例子。本研究应用了倡导联盟框架（ACF），这是政治学中的一种正式政策过程理论。对赫尔辛基的23位主动出行专家进行了访谈。采用文件审查作为辅助方法。总体而言，研究表明，赫尔辛基的成功可能归因于一个支持主动出行的倡导联盟在城市交通政策方面的长期主导地位。从健康促进的角度来看，令人惊讶的是，这一成功并非强烈归因于健康方面的考虑或来自健康相关领域的努力。相反，数据表明，由来自各种非健康领域的成员组成的联盟，其最大的动机是保护高度的宜居性。重要的是，一些重大的历史事件和背景层面的因素极大地促进了成功。总体而言，这些结果表明，健康促进倡导者在非健康部门可能有非常有用的盟友，并且认识到政治因素的重要性可能有助于加强健康促进工作。最后，提出了一些相关及进一步研究的可能性。
