Public open space, physical activity, urban design and public health: Concepts, methods and research agenda

Mohammad Javad Koohsari; Suzanne Mavoa; Karen Villianueva; Takemi Sugiyama; Hannah Badland; Andrew T. Kaczynski; Neville Owen; Billie Giles-Corti

doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2015.02.009

Public open space, physical activity, urban design and public health: Concepts, methods and research agenda

Mohammad Javad Koohsari^*, Suzanne Mavoa, Karen Villianueva, Takemi Sugiyama, Hannah Badland, Andrew T. Kaczynski, Neville Owen, Billie Giles-Corti

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

250 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Public open spaces such as parks and green spaces are key built environment elements within neighbourhoods for encouraging a variety of physical activity behaviours. Over the past decade, there has been a burgeoning number of active living research studies examining the influence of public open space on physical activity. However, the evidence shows mixed associations between different aspects of public open space (e.g., proximity, size, quality) and physical activity. These inconsistencies hinder the development of specific evidence-based guidelines for urban designers and policy-makers for (re)designing public open space to encourage physical activity. This paper aims to move this research agenda forward, by identifying key conceptual and methodological issues that may contribute to inconsistencies in research examining relations between public open space and physical activity.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	75-82
Number of pages	8
Journal	Health and Place
Volume	33
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2015.02.009
Publication status	Published - 2015 May 1
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Built environment
Neighbourhood
Parks
Urban form
Walking

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Health(social science)
Sociology and Political Science
Life-span and Life-course Studies

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.healthplace.2015.02.009

Cite this

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abstract = "Public open spaces such as parks and green spaces are key built environment elements within neighbourhoods for encouraging a variety of physical activity behaviours. Over the past decade, there has been a burgeoning number of active living research studies examining the influence of public open space on physical activity. However, the evidence shows mixed associations between different aspects of public open space (e.g., proximity, size, quality) and physical activity. These inconsistencies hinder the development of specific evidence-based guidelines for urban designers and policy-makers for (re)designing public open space to encourage physical activity. This paper aims to move this research agenda forward, by identifying key conceptual and methodological issues that may contribute to inconsistencies in research examining relations between public open space and physical activity.",

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AU - Sugiyama, Takemi

AU - Badland, Hannah

AU - Kaczynski, Andrew T.

AU - Owen, Neville

AU - Giles-Corti, Billie

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Public open space, physical activity, urban design and public health: Concepts, methods and research agenda

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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