Walking in Two French Neighborhoods: A Study of How Park Numbers and Locations Relate to Everyday Walking

Urban Green Space and Subjective Well-Being of Older People: A Systematic Literature Review

A growing number of articles have identified and reported the benefits and importance of urban green spaces for improving human well-being, but there is a significant knowledge gap regarding the impact of urban green spaces on the subjective well-being of older adults. The literature search (August 2015-August 2022) was derived from two major scientific databases, Google Scholar, and Web of Science. As a result, 2558 articles were found, 1527 of which were retrieved from WOS and the rest from Google Scholar. Bibliometric methods and VOSviewer software were used to screen and organize the articles in the relevant fields. Finally, 65 articles met the review criteria. The included studies aim to capture the benefits of various features of urban green spaces in meeting or enhancing the subjective well-being needs of older adults. The results of our review further support the existence of a strong link between older adults' subjective well-being and various features of urban green spaces, providing new insights for future in-depth reexamination and policy development. Furthermore, the relationship between urban green spaces and older adults' subjective well-being depends not only on the urban green spaces themselves but also on the characteristics of the older adult population that uses them.

Chronic disease and where you live: Built and natural environment relationships with physical activity, obesity, and diabetes

BACKGROUND

Diabetes is among the most prevalent non-communicable diseases causing significant morbidity and mortality globally. The aetiology and disease development of diabetes are influenced by genetic, lifestyle, and environmental factors. Due to an increasing number of cases each year, it is imperative to improve the understanding of modifiable environmental risk and protective factors. In this study we aimed to analyse associations between built and natural environment features and diabetes prevalence; and two major risk factors: physical activity and obesity and their mediation effects.

METHODS

We analysed relationships between walkability and park availability with physical activity, obesity, and diabetes, using self-reported data from a large cross-sectional survey in British Columbia, Canada (n = 22,418). We validated results with an independent cohort (n = 11,972) in a subset of the analyses. The outcome measures included walking, moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), body mass index (BMI), and diabetes. Built and natural environment features within a 1 km road network buffer around residential postal code centroids were assessed using validated indicators of walkability and park availability. We used general linear multivariable models (GLM) to examine the direct relationship between environmental features, physical activity, obesity, and diabetes respectively. Path models were developed to analyse mediation effects of physical activity and obesity on the association between environmental indicators and diabetes. The relative contribution of direct versus indirect effects was assessed. All models were adjusted for age, gender, income. ethnicity, years lived in neighbourhood and regional accessibility.

RESULTS

Walkable neighbourhoods and areas with greater park availability were associated with lower rates of diabetes. There was a direct association of walkability and park availability on physical activity (highest vs. lowest quintile OR = 1.15; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.33 and OR = 1.28, 95% CI: 1.13, 1.45 respectively), obesity (highest vs. lowest quintile OR = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.49, 0.70 and OR = 0.57, 95% CI: 0.48, 0.68 respectively) and diabetes (highest vs. lowest quintile OR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.45, 0.85, and OR = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.47, 0.84 respectively). Results were similar in the independent cohort. The associations between diabetes and walkability and park availability respectively were partly mediated by obesity (41% of total association for walkability and 53% of total association for park availability). The mediating effect of physical activity was negligible.

CONCLUSION

Results support investments in walkability through active transportation and transit infrastructure. Changes in zoning and subdivision regulations governing land use actions are required to enable compact mixed-use environments with access to parks and high quality transit service. Future studies including cost-benefit analyses of health-related economic impacts of such investments can contribute to evidence-based decisions for healthier cities.

Time Distances to Residential Food Amenities and Daily Walking Duration: A Cross-Sectional Study in Two Low Tier Chinese Cities

Recent studies indicate the accepted concept of using land-use mix (LUM) to promote physical activity is ineffective and even counteractive in the Chinese context. Before considering LUM as a whole, different amenity types need to be respectively analyzed in relation to various functions and demands. This study aims to examine the specific associations between food-related amenities and perceived daily walking duration (WD) in small Chinese cities. Two interviewer-administered questionnaire surveys (n = 354) were conducted in Yuncheng and Suihua between 2017 and 2018. Logistic regression models were used to examine the associations of WD with seven different categories of food outlet at three levels of walking distance. The associations were further explored by food environment diversity and through two age groups. With the exception of café/tea house, the other six food outlets were positively associated with WD. After adjusting for socioeconomic variables, the associations of grocery store and supermarket weakened. Higher levels of food environment diversity were associated with a longer WD. Among the age groups, food outlets were more associated with older adults’ WD. This novel quantitative study suggests that increasing the number and heterogeneity of food-related amenities (including mobile street vendors) within a neighborhood can enhance physical activity in small Chinese cities.

Exploring Walking Behavior in the Streets of New York City Using Hourly Pedestrian Count Data

This paper explores hourly automated pedestrian count data of seven locations in New York City to understand pedestrian walking patterns in cities. Due to practical limitations, such patterns have been studied conceptually; few researchers have explored walking as a continuous, long-term activity. Adopting an automated pedestrian counting method, we documented and observed people walking on city streets and found that unique pedestrian traffic patterns reflect land use, development intensity, and neighborhood characteristics. We observed a threshold of thermal comfort in outdoor activities. People tend to seek shade and avoid solar radiation stronger than 1248 Wh/m2 at an average air temperature of 25 °C. Automated collection of detailed pedestrian count data provides a new opportunity for urban designers and transportation planners to understand how people walk and to improve our cities to be less dependent on the automobile.

Assessing Spatial Accessibility to Hierarchical Urban Parks by Multi-Types of Travel Distance in Shenzhen, China

Urban green spaces play a critical role in public health and human wellbeing for urban residents. Due to the uneven spatial distribution of urban green spaces in most of cities, the issue of the disparity between supply and demand has aroused public concern. In a case of Shenzhen, a modified Gaussian-based two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method is adopted to evaluate the disparity between park provision and the demanders in terms of accessibility at hierarchical levels under four types of distance (e.g., Euclidean distance, walking distance, bicycling distance, and driving distance), which is well aligned with hierarchical systems in urban green spaces in urban planning practice. By contrast and correlation analysis, among the four types of distance, the statistical correlations are relatively high between Euclidean distance and the other three. Nonetheless, the pattern of spatial accessibility under different type of travel distance is apparently variant. Accessibility calculated by Euclidean distance is overestimated relative to that of the other three, while the pattern of walking distance and bicycling distance is similar to each other. The choice of type of distance is worthy of caution when evaluating spatial accessibility by 2SFCA method. Results show that the accessibility to parks at all hierarchical levels is high particularly, particularly at the natural level. However, the disparity between the supply and demand is significant. The percentage of communities that have high population density but low park accessibility is over 40% (equivalent to approximately 55% of the population). The finding may provide implications on access to urban greens paces for urban planners and authorities to develop effective planning strategies.

Not Parking Lots but Parks: A Joint Association of Parks and Transit Stations with Travel Behavior

Urban design literature says that public open space in a station area could promote walking and other types of physical activity, enhance place attractiveness, and increase property values. In the context of station areas, however, there is a lack of empirical studies on the relationship between the presence of parks and sustainable travel behavior, which is one of the primary goals of transit-oriented developments (TODs). This study examined the impact of park provision on transit users' mode choice in three U.S. regions: Atlanta (GA), Boston (MA), and Portland (OR). This study utilized multilevel multinomial logistic regression to account for hierarchical data structures-trips nested within station areas-and multiple travel modes-automobiles, transit, and walking. After controlling for the built environment and trip attributes, this study showed that when there was a park, people were more likely to walk or take transit to access or egress a transit station. A transit station having a park nearby may provide a more pleasant first-mile/last-mile travel experience. This paper demonstrated that station areas need to incorporate more public space, an overlooked element in current TOD plans.

Social-Cultural Processes and Urban Affordances for Healthy and Sustainable Food Consumption

In this paper, we provide an overview of research highlighting the relation between cultural processes, social norms, and food choices, discussing the implication of these findings for the promotion of more sustainable lifestyles. Our aim is to outline how environmental psychological research on urban affordances, through the specific concepts of restorative environments and walkability, could complement these findings to better understand human health, wellbeing and quality of life. We highlight how social norms and cultural processes are linked to food choices, and we discuss the possible health-related outcomes of cultural differences in food practices as well as their relation to acculturation and globalization processes. We also discuss the concepts of restorative environments and walkability as positive urban affordances, their relation to human wellbeing, and the possible link with cultural processes and sustainable lifestyles. Finally, we outline issues for future research and areas for policy-making and interventions on the links between cultural processes, healthy and sustainable food consumption and urban affordances, for the pursuit of public health, wellbeing and environmental sustainability.