Park use, perceived park proximity, and neighborhood characteristics: Evidence from 11 cities in Latin America

Mika R Moran,Daniel A Rodríguez,Andrea Cotinez-O'Ryan,J Jaime Miranda

doi:10.1016/j.cities.2020.102817

Abstract

This study examines how park use may be associated with perceived park proximity, neighborhood-built environment and perceived social disorder in Latin American cities. The study uses self-reported data from the 2016 CAF survey, including 7,970 urban residents from 11 cities across Latin America. Results show positive graded associations between perceived park proximity and use, holding all others constant. Additional factors that were found to be associated with park use are neighborhood formality and related built-environment characteristics, including paved streets and sidewalks. Park use was mostly unrelated to perceived social disorder, with the exception of indigence, with which it is was positively associated. Stronger associations between park proximity and use were observed among those who reported higher prevalence of indigence or begging in their household block. These findings stress the importance of perceived park proximity in enhancing their use in urban Latin America, and challenge the role of social disorder and crime as a barrier for park use.

Highlights

Our findings show a graded association between perceived park proximity and use with increased odds of park use associated with decreased walking time to the closest park
Additional factors associated with park use are neighborhood formality and related built environment characteristics, including paved streets and sidewalks
Park use was unrelated to most perceived neighborhood social disorder attributes, but there was an interaction with perceived indigence or begging, showing stronger association between perceived park proximity and use among those who reported higher prevalence of indigence or begging in their home neighborhood block

Summary

Introduction

Parks and green open spaces are essential for public health due to their associations with various physical-, social- and mental-health benefits (Bedimo-Rung, Mowen, & Cohen, 2005; de Blasio, 2016; Evenson, Wen, Hillier, & Cohen, 2013; Kaczynski & Henderson, 2007; Markevych et al, 2017; Sarkar, Webster, & Gallacher, 2018; van den Bosch & Sang, 2017). Park use was found to be associated with higher levels of physical activity (Leslie, Cerin, & Kremer, 2010) and related health benefits (Mowen, Orsega-Smith, Payne, Ainsworth, & Godbey, 2007). Motivated by these benefits, local governments and agencies have sought to increase the availability of parks for local populations as a useful strategy to enhance park use (Kaczynski & Henderson, 2007) and related health benefits (Markevych et al, 2017; Mowen et al, 2007). These efforts are often guided by socio-ecological models (Sallis et al, 2016; Sreetheran & Van Den Bosch, 2014), according to which human behavior has multiple levels of influences, ranging from environmental conditions (e.g., parks attributes and their surroundings), through social factors (e.g., personal safety and social disorder), to individual's characteristics (e.g., sociodemographic characteristics, attitudes and preferences)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion