A Qualitative Study on Leisure Benefits, Constraints, and Negotiations in Urban Parks Based on Perception of Chinese Older Adults

Abstract

Urban parks, one of the most significant outdoor leisure areas, are particularly important for the physical and mental health of older adults. In order to investigate the benefits and constraints of leisure activities that older adults perceived in urban parks, as well as their negotiation mechanisms, this study was conducted using a qualitative method, interviewing 102 retired older adults aged 55 or older in Guangzhou, China, and using Rost CM 6.0 for word frequency analysis. The study findings indicated that due to the lack of age-friendly public leisure facilities in Guangzhou, Chinese older adults expressed multiple expectations regarding the benefits of urban parks, mainly in terms of physical, psychological, and social interaction, with physical benefits being their primary drivers. Leisure constraints can be intrapersonal, interpersonal, or structural. Older adults who visited parks and those who did not were affected by different levels of limitations, with the oldest people experiencing the most pronounced constraints. Older adults were able to access leisure opportunities through a variety of constraint negotiation strategies, including cognitive adaptability, spatiotemporal adaptation, interpersonal coordination, skill acquisition, and alternative leisure activities. The results of this study might assist related management departments in building more age-friendly parks based on the framework of the benefits and constraints of park recreation for older adults, in terms such as institutional design and planning to enhance the role of urban parks in healthy aging.