{"id":13713,"date":"2014-11-13T10:50:58","date_gmt":"2014-11-13T15:50:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=13713"},"modified":"2014-11-13T10:50:58","modified_gmt":"2014-11-13T15:50:58","slug":"kennett-senior-presents-findings-at-regional-planning-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=13713","title":{"rendered":"Kennett senior presents findings at regional planning conference"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Untitled\"<\/a>

Arshia Faghri<\/p><\/div>\n

KENNETT SQUARE \u2013 Arshia Faghri, a senior at Kennett High School, presented findings from his own research on building environments and health as a featured speaker at the American Planning Association (APA) Maryland\/Delaware Conference on October 29.<\/p>\n

The session entitled \u201cPlanning Healthy, Multigenerational Complete Communities (Perspectives from Delaware)\u201d was offered for certification maintenance by the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).\u00a0 The focus was on \u201chealthy, livable communities that meet the needs of all residents regardless of age or ability level.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Along with Faghri the speakers at the session included David Edgell, AICP (Principal Planner, Delaware Office of State Planning Coordination), Marcia Scott (Policy Scientist, Institute for Public Administration, University of Delaware), Andrea Trabelsi, AICP (Transportation Planner, Whitman, Requardt & Associates, LLP), and Debra Young, M.Ed., OTR\/L, SCEM, ATP, CAPS (Owner, EmpowerAbility, LLC).<\/p>\n

Arshia Faghri was invited to participate as a result of his research paper submission, \u201cThe Built Environment and Our Health,\u201d which examined the correlation between \u201cour health and the built environment in which we live\u201d and which was based on results of a questionnaire distributed to faculty, staff, and graduate students who live in the area around the University of Delaware.\u00a0 (Faghri\u2019s father, Ardeshir Faghri, is a professor of civil and environment engineering at the University of Delaware.\u00a0 The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has named Professor Faghri to its 2014 Class of Fellows.)<\/p>\n

In his paper Kennett High School student Arshia Faghri attempted to answer several questions: \u201cIs our built environment more conducive to physical activity or is it more auto-centered?\u201d and \u201cIf we have a more bicycle and pedestrian friendly environment would we be healthier?\u201d \u00a0His inspiration for this research came from his desire to ride his bicycle to Kennett High School, a desire thwarted by the lack of pathways to make it an efficient and safe alternative to car or bus transportation. \u00a0In his paper\u2019s introduction Arshia notes, \u201cPersonally, I have always had a profound fascination with learning about human health and its epidemiological aspects. Salient diseases that have had a momentous effect on human development throughout history include but are not limited to: heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, lung disease, hypertension, and obesity. Although there are several factors that instigate the onset of a malady, clinical research has frequently shown that proper health maintenance and engagement in efficacious physical activities like walking and bicycling can counteract the pernicious consequences of these ailments. Historically, pre-industrial society and its laborious tasks demanded the continual use of the legs, hands, and muscles of the human body. It has been only within the past century that we humans have developed a wholly mechanized society and have developed a propensity for the use of cars and machines, as opposed to our own physical capabilities. One possible epidemiological factor that I have always been fascinated with is the question, \u201cWhy isn\u2019t our built environment more conducive to physical activities?\u201d For instance, I live and attend school in the small suburban town of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Pedestrian walkways and bicycle facilities for the purposes of recreational use, school attendance, and miscellaneous activities are either non-existent or are exceedingly dangerous to use. It seems to me that our entire built environment has been planned, designed, and constructed exclusively for auto use. For instance, if I could safely walk or bike to my high school from my house, it would take approximately twenty-five minutes and seven minutes, respectively. Interestingly, if I were to take the school bus to school, it would take me approximately thirty-five minutes. But unfortunately there are no adequate pedestrian walkways and bicycling facilities present and the existing roadway infrastructure has only been designed to cater to the needs of motor vehicles. Also, I don\u2019t believe that my community and I are alone in this respect! And there are countless other neighborhoods suffering from similar difficulties. Thus, modern transportation facilities do not render themselves practical for multi-modal use, such as walking and bicycling.\u201d<\/p>\n

The conclusions and recommendations offered by this high school senior were: \u201cResearch and the results from this project show that there is a direct link between our built environment and human health. Readers should actively participate in mild to intense physical exercise each week, as the level of one\u2019s physical activity is a major contributor to overall health. Depriving society of the very necessary facilities required to nurture its overall health and well-being does not bode well. Drastic changes must be implemented, for a rising pandemic of disease will have dire implications. Society should seek other forms of urban design and community development to counteract the effects of the built environment. Alternatives include the \u2018new urbanism\u2019 movement and the clean streets movement, both of which de-emphasize auto dependency and promote walkability of pedestrian friendly streets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arshia Faghri is the secretary for the KHS Blue and White Chapter of the National Honor Society.\u00a0 He is a member of the Kennett High School Academic Competition Team, the Future Business Leaders of America, Model United Nations, and the staff of the Demon Press. Arshia intends to pursue a career in medicine.\u00a0 For his success in the research and presentation, Ashia credits his father for his guidance in the design of his research process, his teachers at Kennett High School for development of the necessary skills in statistics and technical writing, and his guidance counselor for tips on the design of the project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KENNETT SQUARE \u2013 Arshia Faghri, a senior at Kennett High School, presented findings from his own research on building environments and health as a featured speaker at the American Planning Association (APA) Maryland\/Delaware Conference on October 29. The session entitled \u201cPlanning Healthy, Multigenerational Complete Communities (Perspectives from Delaware)\u201d was offered for certification maintenance by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13712,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,9],"tags":[5497,79],"class_list":["post-13713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-schools","tag-arshia-faghri","tag-kennett-high-school"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}