Identification and optimization of green space environmental elements affecting different health activities of elderly:A case study of Dalian
Introduction:High-quality green space environments are conducive to stimulating healthy activity among older adults,which is significant for improving physical and mental health.The rising amount of literature provides guidelines for us to understand how urban green space affects the healthy activities of older adults;however,the different types of activities also make older adults have different needs for green space.Exploring the influence of the environment on a single activity can hardly reveal the actual impact effect of urban green space comprehensively and systematically,which leads to the conclusion that it fails to combine different activities of the elderly to implement precise regulation.This study aims to analyze the relationship between the impact of the urban green space environment on different health activities,taking into account the physical and social activities of older adults.Data:The study was based on a cross-sectional sample of 275 respondents aged 60 or older in Dalian,China.To select representative samples,the neighborhoods were purposively selected from three community categories,namely,open old settlements,closed old settlements,and closed new settlements.In-person structured interviews focused on older adults'weekly routine outdoor activity behavior and socio-demographic characteristics.It is worth noting that the objective environment of green spaces can not only directly influence the health activities of older adults,but also exert indirect promotional benefits by influencing subjective perceptions.Therefore,to assess the associations and pathways between urban green spaces and the health activities of older adults,it adopted a multivariate linear model based on single-factor identification and followed a three-step procedure for the analysis.First,it investigated the combined effects of socio-demographic characteristics and green space objective environment elements on different health activities of older adults.Second,the subjective perceived environment of older adults was used as an explanatory variable,and the green space objective environment was used as an explanatory variable.Third,it considered the joint influence of the subjective and objective environments of green spaces on the health activities of older adults.Methods:According to the theories of social ecology and health behavior,it classifies the urban green space environment affecting the health activities of older adults into objective environment(accessibility,attractiveness)and subjective environment(suitability).The objective environment includes elements related to accessibility and attractiveness,of which accessibility covers not only the spatial accessibility of activity opportunities for older adults,but also the accessibility of actual travel;attractiveness not only takes into account the internal design elements of the green space,but also incorporates the characteristics of the environment surrounding the green space into the index.The subjective environment is based on appropriateness,focusing on the elderly's perception of and satisfaction with the actual activity environment.Healthy activities of the elderly are mainly divided into two categories:physical activities(walking,playing balls,equipment,hiking,swimming)and social activities(sitting,communicating,playing cards,dancing,playing chess),and the frequency of weekly activities is used as a quantitative indicator,which is categorized into three grades of high-frequency(15-28 times/week),medium-frequency(8-14 times/week),and low-frequency(1-7 times/week).Results:Different activities of older adults have variable associations with urban green space environments.In terms of physical activity,travel range within 800 m and road network density of 1.5 km/km2-2km/km2 were associated positively with activity frequency;environmental suitability assessment had a mediating effect between place vitality and activity frequency;and rich land mix around the green space as well as comprehensive parks were positively associated with the enhancement of older people's physical activity.In terms of the impact of social activities,the proximity of green spaces to residential areas,the predominance of living streets in the travel paths,and the high green visibility of streets positively contributed to the activity frequency of older adults,and the community parks or playgrounds were the significant venues for older adults to engage in high-frequency activities;environmental suitability evaluations mediated the impacts of living streets and playgrounds on the social activities of older adults.In addition,older adults'physical activity was regulated by age and education,but there was no evidence of a significant association between older individuals'social attributes and socialization activity.Conclusions:Interventions involving green space environments could be a promising opportunity to promote healthy activities for older adults,but the measures should implement differentiated spatial guidance that integrates with the different activity characteristics of older adults.For example,when constructing community parks or playgrounds,it should be guaranteed to be within 500 m of accessibility,with social activity support for older people as the planning anchor point,and be connected mainly by lifestyle streets with high green visibility.In the construction of integrated parks,measures to promote physical activity for older adults should be enhanced to improve the vitality of the place and the mixing of the surrounding land,while ensuring that 800 m is within walking distance.
green space environmentolder adultshealth activitiesinfluencing factors
国家科技期刊平台
NSTL
万方数据
