Park Attendance Research Articles

Crowdsourced data as a strategic approach to include the human dimension in outdoor environmental quality assessments

Outdoor environments extend living spaces as venues for various activities. Comfortable open public spaces can positively impact citizens' health and well-being, thereby improving the livability and resilience of cities. Considering the visitors' perception of these environments in comfort studies is crucial for ensuring their well-being and promoting the use of these spaces. However, traditional survey methods may be time- and resource-consuming to gather significant sample sizes, usually focusing on selected homogeneous samples. Crowdsourced data, then, has emerged as an alternative for assessing human perception, as it eases the collection of subjective feedback and potentially amplifies impact and inclusivity. This study presents a strategic approach for analyzing publicly available and willingly reported crowdsourced data from a digital mapping platform in outdoor comfort evaluations, aiming to verify whether these data are informative regarding environmental quality perception and to identify the environmental factors that people are most sensitive to. Urban parks located in New York City served as a case study. A multi-source, interdisciplinary information framework combined crowdsourced reviews with environmental data used to determine prevailing thermal conditions. Overall perception of parks was well-rated, revealing that their attractions and activities are probably the most appealing characteristics for park attendance. Regarding environmental perception, acoustic and thermal factors are clearly the most influential. Acoustics were well-rated, while the main aspect regarding the thermal domain is the recognition of shading as a mitigator for hot conditions. Environmental data provided complementary insights, particularly concerning the range of thermal sensations experienced in urban parks. The findings confirm that willingly reported crowdsourced data can provide valuable insights into urban crowd environmental perception, presenting a potentially suitable and effective method to include the human perspective in environmental quality assessments, as well as to evaluate and predict environmental-related risks.

Unravelling key environmental factors influencing urban park visits: Thermal comfort and air quality

Urban parks play a vital role in shaping physical and mental health. Walking and cycling to local urban parks have become increasingly popular since the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas the climate change and air pollution continue to spur health risks for outdoor activities. Existing literature have focused on measuring the impact of temperature on park attendance, mainly using incomplete or short-term park visit data from field investigations. However, there is a lack of research on how thermal comfort factors (e.g., heat and humidity) and air quality indices – individually and synergistically – enhance or reduce visits to urban parks, particularly with quality official daily park visit data spanning an entire year. In response to the research gap, this study conducted a comparative case study of two urban parks in Shanghai, covering descriptive, correlation, and regression analyses of how weather and air quality mediate daily park attendance from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021. This study identifies that temperature, humidity, and the ‘Heat Index’ combining heat and humidity are strong parameters influencing the number of park visits, while the impacts of air quality indices are mostly trivial. Urban humid heat, a weather condition becoming more frequent with the rise of extreme heat events in Shanghai's recent summers, received much less attention than the sheer degree of temperature, threatening healthy outdoor activities in parks. These findings provide timely and important implications for better urban park planning, design, and management for promoting outdoor activities while reducing health risks.

How climate change and population growth will shape attendance and human-wildlife interactions at British Columbia parks

Protected areas are important for ecological conservation while simultaneously supporting culturally and economically valuable tourism. However, excessive visitor pressure strain operations and risk human-wildlife conflict, threatening the sustainability of nature-based tourism. Thus, park managers need to know what factors underpin attendance and how these might interact to shape future attendance. Using a decade of attendance records from 249 provincial parks in British Columbia (BC), Canada, as well as 12 years of human-wildlife interactions (HWI) records at five national parks in BC, we modelled the impacts of weather conditions and population growth on park attendance and HWIs. We paired these models with climate change and population growth scenarios to generate projections of how attendance and HWIs will change throughout the century. Climate change is projected to result in more precipitation and higher temperatures, and, over this same time span, BC's population is expected to grow substantially. Based on the observed relationship between attendance and weather, parks should anticipate a marked rise in visitors and HWIs, especially during their respective peak seasons. These projections provide park managers with the information required for proactive management, ultimately contributing to the sustainability of recreation and tourism in protected areas.

Increasing wildfire smoke has limited impacts on national park visitation in the American West

AbstractAmbient wildfire smoke in the American West has worsened considerably in recent decades, while the number of individuals recreating outdoors has simultaneously surged. Wildfire smoke poses a serious risk to human health, especially during long periods of exposure and during exercise. As such, evaluating whether people modify recreation in response to smoke is important to understanding the public health implications of these trends. Here we aggregate data on black carbon, a major component of wildfire smoke, and recreational visitation in 32 US national parks from 1980 to 2019 to examine how visitors respond to wildfire smoke. We hypothesize that visitor response may exhibit a threshold effect where ambient smoke reduces visitation after a critical level, but not before. We develop a series of breakpoint models to test this hypothesis. The results of these models are mixed, but overall show little to no effect of ambient smoke on visitation to the 32 parks tested, even when allowing for critical thresholds at the extreme upper ranges of smoke exposure. This indicates that wildfire smoke does not greatly alter park attendance. This finding suggests that management actions to protect visitor health during smoke events may be warranted.

Heat and park attendance: Evidence from “small data” and “big data” in Hong Kong

Urban heat disrupts the use of parks, although the extent of such disruptions remains disputed. Literature relies on “small data” methods, such as questionnaires, field studies, or human-subject experiments, to capture the behavioural response to heat. Their findings are often in contradiction with each other, possibly due to the small sample sizes, the short study period, or the few sites available in a single study. The rise of “big data” such as social media offers new opportunities, yet its reliability and usefulness remain unknown. This paper describes a study using Twitter data (tweets) to study park attendance under the influence of hot weather. Some 20,000 tweets geo-coded within major parks were obtained in Hong Kong over a period of three years. Field studies have been conducted in parallel in a large park covering the hot and cool seasons and some 40,000 attendance were recorded over three months. Both the “small” and “big data” were analyzed and compared to each other. Findings suggest that a 1 °C increase in temperature was associated with some 4% drop in park attendance and some 1% drop in park tweets. The differences between the two data sources be explained by the ‘leakage’ of indoor tweets to parks caused by GPS drift near buildings. The Universal Thermal Climate Index can better predict self-reported thermal sensations, compared with other biometeorological indicators. This study has contributed to methodologies and new evidence to the study of behaviors and thermal adaptations in an outdoor space, and geo-coded tweets can serve as a powerful data source.

THE PUBLIC’S PERCEPTIONS TOWARD THEME PARKS AS A RECREATIONAL ACTIVITY

A theme park is an attraction that the public enjoys. A theme park provides amusement and creates a leisure time for the public to spend time with family, friends and other relatives. Therefore, it is critical to determine the public's expectations and perceptions of theme park recreation. The purpose of this study is to determine the level of public participation in a theme park recreational activity. The theme parks selected are Sunway Lagoon Water Park, iCity Water World, and Wet World Water Park. All of the selected theme parks are located in the state of Selangor. The objective of the study is to investigate the influence factor of public perception on theme park attendance based on social demographics. Due to the Covid-19 situation, the survey was conducted through an online form using a Google form. A total of 437 people from the selected theme parks were surveyed. The study found that most theme park visitors are students and are between 18 and 30 years old. The result shows that public participation in theme park recreational activities is significant. It was found that people who do their leisure activities in amusement parks have higher expectations. On the other hand, the influence factor of public perception of participation in theme park leisure activities was significant. The iCity Water World has the highest influence. The influence factor of public perception of participation is statistically significant in theme parks. Nevertheless, the management should cooperate and communicate with the government and private organizations to improve the country's economy due to the Covid-19 situation.

ВОЕННО-ТЕМАТИЧЕСКИЕ ПАРКИ В СИСТЕМЕ СОЦИАЛЬНЫХ ГРАДОСТРОИТЕЛЬНЫХ ОБЪЕКТОВ

The features of the sustainable operation of military theme parks in a pandemic are revealed using the example of the Kulikovo Field Museum-Reserve, Tula Region, Russia, and similar foreign parks are also considered. The reason for considering this object was the results of a comprehensive analysis of military theme parks, among which Kulikovo Field stood out for its innovative approaches to museum activities. A diagram of the location of the main objects on the territory of the museum-reserve is presented and their description is given. It is proposed to consider the park attendance graphs obtained as a result of online monitoring of Yandex electronic resources, conducted from the end of 2020 to the present. As a result of the study, it was determined that the system has not yet been worked out: the information does not reflect an objective picture in the form of numerical values, is updated without specifying the frequency of updates and is only informational. As expected, there is seasonality and unevenness in visiting the territory, which is associated with national holidays, vacations and weather conditions. Thus, the study showed that despite the difficult epidemiological situation, there is an interest in visiting the military theme park, and hence the social demand for the complex.

Biogeography and predictors of wildlife killed on roads at peninsular Florida State Parks

AbstractWildlife‐vehicle collisions (WVCs) are a major source of wildlife mortality and should affect regional wildlife diversity and abundance, yet most WVC studies are locally scaled. Here, we evaluated biogeographic diversity (i.e., species richness, effective diversity) and abundance of WVCs at state parks across the Florida peninsula to answer two questions aimed to help inform wildlife conservation efforts: which parks have greatest WVC diversity, and why? We processed and compiled 9,254 WVC survey records collected by Florida State Parks personnel at 42 parks during a decade (2005–2015). Data for birds (138 species), mammals (35 species), reptiles (64 species), and all taxa combined were analyzed for patterns among parks (for the first question) and for biogeographic, climatic, ecoregion, and anthropogenic predictors of those patterns (for the second). Predictors represented nonexclusive alternative a priori hypotheses and were evaluated by model comparison. Parks differed widely in WVC diversity and abundance; we identify “hot spot” parks where management may most effectively reduce WVCs. Biogeographic and anthropogenic hypotheses were supported, but climatic and ecoregion hypotheses were not. Models for overall diversity fit data better (R2s > 0.50) than did models for specific taxa (e.g., birds). Larger parks closer to Florida's highly populated Atlantic Coast and with greater park attendance and perhaps faster speeds on adjacent roads have more WVC diversity and numbers. Of these predictors, attendance and speed limits are manageable. Traffic management in and near‐identified “hot spot” parks in Florida can most effectively reduce WVC effects on wildlife populations and diversity amidst a growing human population.

Methodology for assessing quality of urban park functional zoning by factors affecting park environment comfortability

The decision made by the architect on the location of recreational areas on the park layout can subsequently have a significant impact on people’s comfort and is one of the conditions for the high level of park attendance and visitor satisfaction. However, since each factor affecting comfortability of the environment manifests differently in different parts of the park, it is quite difficult to take into account and not leave out every factor affecting comfort at the design phase. The aim of this study is to develop a methodology that can be used for quantitative assessment of the quality of functional zoning in existing urban parks, to provide a more complete account of sanitation and hygiene, ergonomic, morphological and natural factors affecting the park environment comfortability. This goal is achieved by building planograms which reflect the impact of each factor on the park grounds and their subsequent summation in accordance with the requirements for location of each functional zone of the park set by the designer. The methodology proposed in this paper was used to assess the quality of the existing functional zoning in the Lida town park.

Impacts of COVID-related capacity constraints on theme park attendance: evidence from Magic Kingdom wait times

ABSTRACT This paper examines the impacts of COVID-related capacity constraints on attendance at the Magic Kingdom theme park. Results – based on analysis of about 325,000 attraction wait times recorded between 2014 and 2020 – show that operating at 25% of the park’s capacity would lead to a 54.1-percent reduction in estimated annual attendance, whereas a constraint of 50-percent capacity would lower annual attendance by 10.6%. COVID-related capacity constraints will likely decrease the revenue generated by theme parks and reduce visitation in regions where major theme parks are located.

Research on Thermal Comfort of Outdoor Space in Summer Urban Park: Take Mianyang Urban Park as an Example

One of the factors for the evaluation of the space environment is the comfort of outdoor activities spaces in urban parks. The space composed of different landscape elements has different microclimate environment. In this paper, in order to evaluate the role of thermal comfort in influencing resident’s assessment of the outdoor space and activities of the park, a thermal comfort survey was conducted on the outdoor open space of Mianyang Urban Park in summer. In this article, meteorological surveys, questionnaire surveys and observation of park attendance are selected to collect data. The physiological equivalent temperature (PET) assessment was selected as the index to evaluate resident’s thermal comfort level, and the comprehensive evaluation and analysis of the spatial thermal environment of different outdoor landscape elements in the park. The overall comfort of current visitors is mainly influenced by their subjective heat perception voting (TSV). In this article, we focus on providing microclimate adjustment considerations for urban park landscape design, and may help people understand the outdoor thermal comfort of Mianyang in summer, increase the using time of outdoor activities, and promote the use of outdoor space.

How Does Park Use and Physical Activity Differ between Childhood and Adolescence? A Focus on Gender and Race-Ethnicity.

Physical activity typically declines between childhood and adolescence. Despite urban parks being a great venue for physical activity, children change both the frequency of park use and their park use habits as they age into adolescence. However, little is known about how these differences vary by gender and how distinct race/ethnicity groups differentially change their park habits. This study analyzed the differences in park use and per capita energy expenditure between children and teenagers of different gender and race/ethnicity backgrounds. Using the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC), systematic observations were conducted in 20 New York City parks in 2017, located in low-income areas with high presence of Latino or Asian residents. A total of 9963 scans in 167 distinct target areas counted 16,602 children (5-10years old) and 11,269 teenagers (11 or older). Using adjusted marginal means, we estimated the number of park users of each age range, gender, and race/ethnicity expected to be found in each park activity setting. Teenagers of both genders and most race/ethnicity groups were less likely to be in a park and had lower per capita energy expenditure, compared with children. The difference in park attendance was greater than the difference in per capita energy expenditure. Dissimilarities were clearly gendered and race/ethnicity dependent. Asian and Latino females showed the greatest divergence between childhood and adolescence. African American boys were the only group to show a positive age contrast in park attendance and per capita energy expenditure.

Public parks usage near hydraulic fracturing operations

Following the advent of hydraulic fracturing to effectively collect natural gas and oil, there has been growing interest in placing exploration and extraction wells in or adjacent to public park and forest systems across North America and Europe. At the heart of the debate about leasing public parkland is the concern that park acreage and accessibility will be lost to fracking operations, thereby decreasing park attendance. In this study, we apply value-belief-norm theory to evaluate park users’ general attitudes toward fracking and public policy and their perceptions of fracking's impact on their recreational activity. A survey of 255 park users in the Appalachian Basin of the United States indicated that individuals holding strong pro-environmental attitudes in general would likely avoid parklands that are affected by fracking operations. Additionally, a majority of respondents reported concern that fracking would disrupt park access and thusly supported legislative bans of fracking in public parklands. Management implicationsThis study provides initial insight into park users’ attitudes toward hydraulic fracturing, especially how it relates to their recreational usage. Specially, the results indicate:•Park users are concerned that fracking operations near local, state, or national parks would disrupt the accessibility and usage of those parks.•Knowledge of fracking and the technological processes behind it is mixed among park users, suggesting that educational outreach efforts may contribute to greater support of or opposition to fracking projects.•Local, state, or federal land managers considering leasing public land for oil or gas exploration must work with policymakers and energy operators to mitigate both the actual and perceived impacts on park usage and recreational pursuits.•Additional research is necessary to evaluate the degree to which park usage has been impacted by park-proximate fracking operations.

Towards guidelines for designing parks of the future

This study investigated human behaviour in parks in order to develop spatially explicit design guidelines considering future climate conditions in moderate climates. Fieldwork was carried out in two parks (in Utrecht and Wageningen, the Netherlands) during summer and tropical days (Tamax>25°C and >30°C, respectively), the latter representing future climate conditions. Behavioural responses (park attendance, spatio-temporal user patterns) and thermal perception of resting park visitors were studied through unobtrusive observations (N=11337) and surveys (N=317). Outcomes were related to air temperature (Ta) of meteorological reference stations and spatial data on the vegetation structures of the parks.Observational data show that daily park attendance decreased with rising Tamax. Survey results indicate that resting park visitors perceived a high level of thermal comfort during all investigated days. Park visitors chose resting locations predominantly based on solar exposure conditions (sun, half shade, shade). Those solar exposure preferences were significantly related to Ta: with increased Ta the number of park visitors in the shade increased and decreased in the sun (p<0.001) with a tipping point of 26°C. These results indicate that parks in moderate climates may guarantee a high level of thermal comfort, even on tropical days, if a variety of solar exposure conditions is guaranteed. A ratio of 40% sun, 20% half shade and 40% shade in parks was derived from spatio-temporal user patterns, which appear to accommodate preferences of resting park visitors under summer and tropical thermal conditions and on various daytimes. These results and a spatial typology of tree configurations for microclimatic variety provide direction for designing future parks: they need to offer a wide range of sun-exposed, half shaded and shaded places to accommodate for different user needs and future climate conditions.

Prevalence of Enteropathogens in Dogs Attending 3 Regional Dog Parks in Northern California.

BackgroundThe prevalence and risk factors for infection with enteropathogens in dogs frequenting dog parks have been poorly documented, and infected dogs can pose a potential zoonotic risk for owners.Hypothesis/ObjectivesTo determine the prevalence and risk factors of infection with enteropathogens and zoonotic Giardia strains in dogs attending dog parks in Northern California and to compare results of fecal flotation procedures performed at a commercial and university parasitology laboratory.AnimalsThree‐hundred dogs attending 3 regional dog parks in Northern California.MethodsProspective study. Fresh fecal specimens were collected from all dogs, scored for consistency, and owners completed a questionnaire. Specimens were analyzed by fecal centrifugation flotation, DFA, and PCR for detection of 11 enteropathogens. Giardia genotyping was performed for assemblage determination.ResultsEnteropathogens were detected in 114/300 dogs (38%), of which 62 (54%) did not have diarrhea. Frequency of dog park attendance correlated significantly with fecal consistency (P = .0039), but did not correlate with enteropathogen detection. Twenty‐seven dogs (9%) were infected with Giardia, and genotyping revealed nonzoonotic assemblages C and D. The frequency of Giardia detection on fecal flotation was significantly lower at the commercial laboratory versus the university laboratory (P = .013), and PCR for Giardia was negative in 11/27 dogs (41%) that were positive on fecal flotation or DFA.Conclusions and Clinical ImportanceEnteropathogens were commonly detected in dogs frequenting dog parks, and infection with Giardia correlated with fecal consistency. PCR detection of Giardia had limited diagnostic utility, and detection of Giardia cysts by microscopic technique can vary among laboratories.

Exploring a theme park's tourism carrying capacity: A demand-side analysis

To better understand a theme park's tourism carrying capacity (TCC), this paper proposes a conceptual framework that classifies the determinants of theme park TCC across three levels: fundamental determinants, mediating determinants, and direct determinants. The authors empirically tested a portion of the framework from the demand side by surveying 1356 visitors at a theme park in China. PLS path modeling, one-way ANOVA, linear regression, and multi-group moderation tests were used to analyze the impacts of attendance from a visitor perspective, day perspective, and visitor perspective at different attendance levels. Results indicate that theme park attendance either directly and/or indirectly affects visitors' experience, satisfaction, and behavioral intention. Theme park attendance also moderates the effects of visitors' experience on visitor satisfaction and behavioral intention, all of which determine a theme park's TCC. Corresponding management practices are recommended based on these results.

Is South Korea in China’s Orbit?: Assessing Seoul’s Perceptions and Policies

The vital interests-and core goals-of the Republic of Korea (ROK) are anchored in economic growth and development, peace and security, and reunification. So far as economic interactions are concerned, China currently figures prominently vis-a-vis the United States. In terms of national security and military defense, by contrast, China pales in importance next to the ROK-U.S. alliance. Which country's role and contribution will be deemed more pivotal to the daunting task of reunification still hangs in the air. Key questions about South Korea's perceptions of and policies toward China are posed in this fluid and evolving context.Since mid-2013, there has been a growing perception in Washington and Tokyo that Seoul has fallen into China's orbit. The thesis posits that South Korea is at present tilting increasingly toward China at the expense of its relations with the United States and will eventually align itself with China.1 Such concerns originated with President Park Geun-hye's successful state visit to China in June 2013, during which Seoul-Beijing ties were further cemented by a pledge to consolidate the strategic cooperative partnership established in 2008.2 Granted that it was fairly common to hear that ROK-China relations have never been better (particularly compared with the five years under Lee Myung-bak), such concerns on the part of the United States and Japan are understandable, though largely blown out of proportion.A year after Park's visit, President Xi Jinping reciprocated with his first state visit to South Korea in early July 2014. It was the first time that the Chinese president visited South Korea before he did the North. More importantly, President Xi's itinerary included only one country-South Korea-as if he had specific goals and motives in mind for the visit. Naturally, the overall atmosphere was cordial, protocols were maximally accorded, schedules were planned to the minute, and hopes and expectations soared high. However, some reporting on the visit was exaggerated and assessments were inflated by the news media's eagerness to mete out positive results even before the two sides had announced their formal agreements.This article is an empirical rebuttal to the mostly anecdotal and largely impressionistic views in some corners of the United States and Japan that South Korea is already in the Chinese orbit. The article is organized as follows:* pp. 126-29 offer an assessment of the Xi visit in July 2014 as a key indicator of South Korea's policies toward China.* pp. 130-43 examine South Koreans' perceptions of China in seven issue domains, arguing that these are not quite congruent with the thesis that Seoul is in China's orbit.* pp. 143-45 look into the more recent case of President Park's attendance of China's Victory Day celebration in September 2015 and provide some informed predictions about South Korea's future relations with China.AN ASSESSMENT OF THE XI VISIT IN 2014Twenty-three years after the normalization of diplomatic ties, ROK-China relations have entered into a period of maturation. With a history of ebbs and flows,3 bilateral ties were particularly bumpy during 2008-12 due not only to the Lee Myung-bak administration's largely pro-U.S. approach but also to Beijing's defense of North Korea's sinking of the ROKS Cheonan and shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in 2010. When the Xi and Park administrations were inaugurated in 2012 and 2013, respectively, an improvement in the bilateral relationship was highly anticipated.Four factors have played a role in facilitating better relations between Seoul and Beijing since 2013. First, as if to accommodate such high expectations, the Xi administration has put much effort into wooing Seoul, often at the expense of Pyongyang.4 Second, the Park government found that it was rather difficult to distinguish itself from the previous administration in the relationship with the United States and regarded improving relations with China as a diplomatic blue ocean. …

Urban park-related risks for Giardia spp. infection in dogs.

Giardia spp. is a common gastrointestinal (GI) parasite of multiple host species, including dogs and humans, with the potential for zoonotic transmission. The risk of GI parasitism in dogs (including Giardia spp.) may increase with park use in urban areas. This study aimed to (1) determine whether park attendance is a risk factor for Giardia spp. infection in dogs and (2) characterize the behavioural and demographic risk factors for Giardia spp. infection in park-attending and non-park-attending dogs. From August to September 2012, a total of 1293 dog owners completed a survey and 860 corresponding dog faecal samples were collected. Dog faeces were screened for Giardia spp. using a direct immunofluorescence assay and associations assessed among behaviours, demographics, and Giardia spp. infection. Main results included off-leash and swimming frequencies within parks as significantly positively associated with Giardia spp. infection in dogs. Dog-owner age was negatively associated with off-leash and swimming frequencies in parks. The results suggest some recreational behaviours in parks and certain demographics are risk factors for parasitism in pet dogs.

Effects of thermal comfort and adaptation on park attendance regarding different shading levels and activity types

Outdoor thermal environments influence thermal adaptation, thereby affecting the utilization of space. To determine the effects of thermal comfort and adaptation on attendance regarding different shading levels and activity types, this study conducted field investigations at a public park located in southern Taiwan, using micrometeorological measurements, estimations of park attendance, and questionnaire surveys on thermal comfort. The results indicate that participants' acceptable range of thermal comfort leads to substantial changes in overall park attendance during different seasons, whereas characteristics of thermal adaptations influence the individual differences of utilization in various ways within diverse spaces. In addition, this study reveals that in unshaded areas within parks, the number of visitors increases following rising thermal conditions during cool seasons, whereas the number of visitors decreases during hot seasons. However, the number of visitors to shaded areas increases with rising thermal conditions in both cool and hot seasons. Because of the possibility and effectiveness of personal behavior adjustments (e.g., decreases in the amount of clothing worn, the wearing of hats, or carrying of an umbrella) in decreasing thermal discomfort, people choose to seek adjustments in external environments. That is, they move from unshaded to shaded areas to relieve their perception of thermal discomfort. The results of this study reveal the importance of shading facilities within parks in the hot climate zone of Taiwan, and can be used as references in future park designs.

Quantification of the effect of thermal indices and sky view factor on park attendance

Outdoor shading affects the thermal environment and human thermal comfort, thereby influencing the usage of space. The objective of this study is to establish a relationship between the thermal environment and number of people visiting an outdoor space, and to explore the utilization of outdoor space during different seasons with various shading levels. This study includes onsite investigations of the microclimate parameters of the thermal environment and attendance at a park in central Taiwan. The results in cool seasons showed a positive correlation among the air temperature, mean radiant temperature (Tmrt), and physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) of shaded areas and the number of visitors. In hot seasons, the Tmrt and PET, which also reflect solar radiation conditions, are negatively correlated with the number of visitors. In other words, the higher Tmrt/PET values indicate that fewer people visit the park during the summer. Meanwhile, a significant correlation exists between park utilization and solar radiation conditions. This study proposes the use of area-averaged sky view factor (SVFa), instead of the traditional single-point sky view factor from fisheye photographs (SVFsp), as the indicator for measuring the shading level at various areas in parks. Analytical results indicate that the lower the SVFa, the higher the park utilization. This study highlights the importance of shade design in parks located in tropical or subtropical climates. The results can serve as a reference for park design in the future.