Physical Environmental Attributes Research Articles

Cold city outdoor space utilisation patterns and constraints: A systematic review of empirical evidence

Urban outdoor spaces, as significant venues for outdoor activities, are closely linked to urban residents' quality of life and physical health. However, evidence suggests that prolonged and cold winters in cold cities, characterised by low temperatures, ice and snow, and frigid winds, profoundly impact residents' engagement in outdoor activities. Understanding the patterns of residents' utilisation of outdoor spaces and the constraints they face in the cold urban environment is crucial. Despite this, there is currently a lack of systematic reviews synthesizing evidence. This study conducts a systematic literature review from the social ecology perspective, organizing relevant evidence on residents' usage patterns, constraints, and preferences for outdoor spaces in cold urban environments. The literature review spans studies published from 2000 to 2023, drawing data from six electronic databases, including Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus. Ultimately, 31 articles (N = 31) were included in the review. The findings indicate that outdoor spaces in cold urban areas are influenced by a range of factors, encompassing individual, social, physical, and perceptual environmental attributes. Consequently, a conceptual framework based on social ecology is developed to comprehend the usage and constraints of outdoor spaces in cold urban environments. This research provides valuable insights for urban planners and designers in designing and planning outdoor spaces in cold cities.

Exploring the Use of the AEDET Hospital Evaluation Toolkit to Create a Better Healing Environment for Cancer Patients beyond the Global North

Today, numerous studies have shown that the physical environment in hospitals can significantly influence patients’ well-being, comfort, and recovery. However, this is currently neglected in hospitals in the Global South. Therefore, there is an urgent need to increase awareness to make it more applicable worldwide. Thus, this study focuses on improving the healing environment standards by exploring the impact of evidence-based design and patient-centered care in hospitals for cancer patients, particularly the architectural space quality, on patient health outcomes as well as hospital staff health and well-being. In Global North countries such as the UK, the achieving excellence design evaluation toolkit (AEDET) is used by their National Health Services to assess the effectiveness of various environmental attributes. However, these toolkits have not been designed for and do not work well within Global South countries, such as Northern Cyprus. To examine and compare the effectiveness of different physical environmental attributes and to evaluate user responses, the post-occupancy evaluation method and the AEDET toolkit were used in this study. These were applied to both public and private hospitals in Northern Cyprus, involving cancer patients, staff, and professionals (n = 220). The findings reveal the strengths and weaknesses in terms of environmental comfort based on the aspects of the evidence-based design of the hospitals such as natural light, air quality, noise, view, infection control, etc., to create a more optimal physical environment for better psychological outcomes. They also reveal that these toolkits are not fit for purpose for Global South contexts and require adaptations. This is the first study to propose an adaptation of the AEDET toolkit to assist architects in designing healthcare facilities that are responsive to the requirements of hospital patients and staff and to promote the quality of a healing environment for improved health and well-being outcomes.

Rural-urban disparities in health outcomes, clinical care, health behaviors, and social determinants of health and an action-oriented, dynamic tool for visualizing them.

While rural-urban disparities in health and health outcomes have been demonstrated, because of their impact on (and intervenability to improve) health and health outcomes, we sought to examine cross-sectional and longitudinal inequities in health, clinical care, health behaviors, and social determinants of health (SDOH) between rural and non-rural counties in the pre-pandemic era (2015 to 2019), and to present a Health Equity Dashboard that can be used by policymakers and researchers to facilitate examining such disparities. Therefore, using data obtained from 2015-2022 County Health Rankings datasets, we used analysis of variance to examine differences in 33 county level attributes between rural and non-rural counties, calculated the change in values for each measure between 2015 and 2019, determined whether rural-urban disparities had widened, and used those data to create a Health Equity Dashboard that displays county-level individual measures or compilations of them. We followed STROBE guidelines in writing the manuscript. We found that rural counties overwhelmingly had worse measures of SDOH at the county level. With few exceptions, the measures we examined were getting worse between 2015 and 2019 in all counties, relatively more so in rural counties, resulting in the widening of rural-urban disparities in these measures. When rural-urban gaps narrowed, it tended to be in measures wherein rural counties were outperforming urban ones in the earlier period. In conclusion, our findings highlight the need for policymakers to prioritize rural settings for interventions designed to improve health outcomes, likely through improving health behaviors, clinical care, social and environmental factors, and physical environment attributes. Visualization tools can help guide policymakers and researchers with grounded information, communicate necessary data to engage relevant stakeholders, and track SDOH changes and health outcomes over time.

First Steps to understanding Intrinsic Vulnerability to Contamination of Karst Aquifers in Various South American and Caribbean Countries

Protecting groundwater in karst aquifers is extremely impor­tant. Vulnerability maps can greatly help proper decision mak­ing based on physical environmental attributes that influence how easily a contaminant applied to the land surface can reach groundwater due to anthropogenic activities, and the proper­ties of the contaminants. Methods for determining vulnerabil­ity based on the COST Action 620 Approach, when applied in the study area, may lead to contradictory results. The main purpose of this study is to provide an overview of academic research on intrinsic karst aquifer vulnerability methodologies applied in South American and Caribbean countries. Secondly, it describes studies related to karst aquifers that, in some cases, lack specific information on intrinsic vulnerability. The objec­tive is to encourage and to help develop specific methods for determining karst vulnerability in these regions. To achieve these purposes, a systematic literature review was conducted including studies conducted at institutions such as universities, national water institutes, and by geological services. Several methods have been used in the region such as COP, DRAS­TIC, RISK, EPIK, PI, PaPRIka, and the Slovene Approach. And some attempts have been made to develop a specific methodol­ogy that best suits the specificities of the region’s karst aqui­fers. South America and the Caribbean have almost 5 % of the world´s carbonate rocks. Some countries have large extensions of their territory covered by karst rocks, such as Peru, 15.4 %; Cuba, 67 %; and Mexico 25.29 %. Estimates indicate that more than 10 million people use water from karst systems in Mexico. In Cuba, 33 % of all available water volume originates from groundwater, and 91.51 % from karst aquifers. In Mexico, 13 studies have been conducted on the importance of karst aqui­fers, which mostly address the Yucatan Peninsula, followed by Brazil (9 studies), Cuba (5), Colombia (1) and Peru (1). Infor­mation about the theme is scarce in most of the other countries in the region. Some studies have incongruent results given the regional characteristics of tropical karst.

Environmental Assessment Of Public Recreation Spaces Of Public Parks In The City Of Knoxville, TN

Public parks provide places and amenities encouraging people to be physically active (PA). The City of Knoxville, TN, a mid-sized city in the Appalachian region, maintains 94 public parks, ranging from pocket parks to larger community parks, in which people can be active. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to profile the physical environmental attributes of this park system relative to infrastructure, aesthetics, and amenities. METHODS: An abbreviated version of the Environmental Assessment of Public Recreation Spaces (EAPRS) tool was used to measure three elements of each park (N = 94). An overall ParkScore (PS), with a possible total of 65 points, was composed of ‘Physical Activity Infrastructure’ in the park across 7 categories: trails, open spaces, pools, beaches, sidewalks, playsets, and athletic fields/courts; ‘Amenities’ captured data on quality items related to seating, restrooms, eating/drinking facilities, bike racks, parking, and signage, etc.; and ‘Aesthetics’ based on items such as the presence of meadows, streams, landscaping. EAPRS scores were compared across the types of parks and access (e.g. greenway links, WalkScore) using SAS 9.4. RESULTS: The overall PS was 15.4 (SD = 7.0). The PA infrastructure score was 5.2 (2.7), aesthetics was 2.9 (1.9), and amenities was 7.3 (3.7). Larger community parks, compared to all other parks, scored significantly higher across all EAPRS elements (p < .0001), but had the lowest access by walking or via public transportation. Natural park areas had significantly fewer elements of PA infrastructure. Amenity scores were significantly higher for community and special use parks. 25.8% of the parks were connected to greenways. These greenway-linked parks had significantly higher PS (20.9 vs. 13.4; p < .0001), PA infrastructure (6.6 vs. 4.7; p < .0039), aesthetics (4.5 vs. 2.3; p < .0001), and amenity (9.9 vs. 6.3; p < .0001) scores. CONCLUSIONS: The attributes of larger community parks are much more likely to attract people for active visits. However, as parks increase in size, fewer people may be able to access them through active transport or public transportation. Smaller neighborhood parks, which are more accessible through active transportation, could be excellent targets for park enhancement, including increases in the physical activity infrastructure.

Planning for community well-being: Prioritizing and identifying local neighbourhood attributes of belonging.

ObjectivesLocal neighbourhoods have great potential to foster community belonging which can improve health and well-being. In partnership with the City of Toronto, we prioritize and assess the importance of physical and social environmental attributes to community belonging. Using new data linkages, we contribute to Toronto’s community safety and well-being plan, SafeTO.&#x0D; ApproachWe leverage an individual-level record linkage of respondents from multiple cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS, 2000 to 2017), the Canadian Vital Statistics Death Database (CVSD), and the Discharge Abstract Database (DAD) from the Centre for Population Health Data at Statistics Canada. Environmental data sources include the Census, administrative data, and open-source data. Using postal code information from the CCHS, we connected each respondent with their neighbourhood’s attributes, which include but are not limited to proximity to amenities (such as childcare, libraries and public transit), the Canadian Active Living Environment measure, green space, and air quality.&#x0D; ResultsOf the 74,000 CCHS respondents from the Toronto census metropolitan area (representing a population of 4 to 5 million annually), an overall rate of 86% agreed to link and share their data, which renders an estimated linked sample of approximately 63,600 respondents. Across the entire linkage, 54% of respondents are linked to a record in the DAD between 1999/00 and 2017/18, and 10% are linked to a death record in the CVSD between 2000 and 2017. In consultation with municipal agencies and community stakeholders, we will prioritize the environmental attributes that are most relevant to community belonging and well-being, and comprehensively model the relationship between these attributes, community belonging and downstream health outcomes using multivariable regression and time-to-event models.&#x0D; ConclusionThis on-going work contributes to the development of innovative approaches for using multi-sector data to inform decision making, as per the goals of SafeTO. Results from the analyses will be used to identify environmental attributes potentially important for community belonging and will support municipal city planning and resource allocation.

Dementia-Related Care in Acute Care Settings: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis of Patient and Family Perspectives

Researchers have long emphasized the importance of a person-centered approach to health care, especially regarding the treatment of individuals living with dementia. However, the fast pace of acute care settings can be a difficult place to provide such care to patients, where there are tensions between the emphasis on efficient treatment of acute medical co-morbidities and person-centered dementia care. This paper is a meta-synthesis of qualitative studies examining perspectives of patients and their family members regarding their acute care experiences. It takes an interpretive approach, using primarily inductive reasoning to generate themes across available studies’ findings. Emergent themes are organized under two major dimensions of the hospital environment: the physical environment, including sensory and tangible elements, and the social environment, including the hospital atmosphere and communication practices. Persons with dementia feel overly stimulated by the busy physical environment of the hospital, yet they are often left to languish alone, sometimes even physically restrained. Patients reported feeling lonely, fearful, and confused, identifying diverse physical and social environmental attributes like physical clutter, noise, and lack of empathy from care providers as contributors. Based on acute care experiences and reports from patients and family members, although the acute condition is treated, persons with dementia often leave the acute care environment in worse functional condition than when they entered. Given the increasing prevalence of persons with dementia in acute care settings, it is clear that we must prioritize innovations and programs aimed at improving hospital practices, educating staff, and creating more dementia-friendly environmental designs.

Examining the Drivers of Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Non-Adherence to Antihypertensive Medications and Mortality Due to Heart Disease and Stroke: A County-Level Analysis.

Background: Prior research has identified disparities in anti-hypertensive medication (AHM) non-adherence between Black/African Americans (BAAs) and non-Hispanic Whites (nHWs) but the role of determinants of health in these gaps is unclear. Non-adherence to AHM may be associated with increased mortality (due to heart disease and stroke) and the extent to which such associations are modified by contextual determinants of health may inform future interventions. Methods: We linked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Atlas of Heart Disease and Stroke (2014–2016) and the 2016 County Health Ranking (CHR) dataset to investigate the associations between AHM non-adherence, mortality, and determinants of health. A proportion of days covered (PDC) with AHM < 80%, was considered as non-adherence. We computed the prevalence rate ratio (PRR)—the ratio of the prevalence among BAAs to that among nHWs—as an index of BAA–nHW disparity. Hierarchical linear models (HLM) were used to assess the role of four pre-defined determinants of health domains—health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic and physical environment—as contributors to BAA–nHW disparities in AHM non-adherence. A Bayesian paradigm framework was used to quantify the associations between AHM non-adherence and mortality (heart disease and stroke) and to assess whether the determinants of health factors moderated these associations. Results: Overall, BAAs were significantly more likely to be non-adherent: PRR = 1.37, 95% Confidence Interval (CI):1.36, 1.37. The four county-level constructs of determinants of health accounted for 24% of the BAA-nHW variation in AHM non-adherence. The clinical care (β = −0.21, p < 0.001) and social and economic (β = −0.11, p < 0.01) domains were significantly inversely associated with the observed BAA–nHW disparity. AHM non-adherence was associated with both heart disease and stroke mortality among both BAAs and nHWs. We observed that the determinants of health, specifically clinical care and physical environment domains, moderated the effects of AHM non-adherence on heart disease mortality among BAAs but not among nHWs. For the AHM non-adherence-stroke mortality association, the determinants of health did not moderate this association among BAAs; the social and economic domain did moderate this association among nHWs. Conclusions: The socioeconomic, clinical care and physical environmental attributes of the places that patients live are significant contributors to BAA–nHW disparities in AHM non-adherence and mortality due to heart diseases and stroke.

Factors That Influence Physical Activity Among Older Adults Living in Rural Community in Wangthong District, Phitsanulok, Thailand

This study aimed to assess the individual, interpersonal, and environmental factors that relate to physical activity (PA) among older adults in rural communities in Wangthong district, Phitsanulok, Thailand. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 545 elders by multi-stage sampling. The data were collected via a validated questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to identify potential determinants of PA. Factors including youngest-old (adjusted OR 1.55, 95% CI [1.05–2.28]), high level of income (adjusted OR 1.89, 95% CI [1.17–3.19]), being a member of the elders’ club (adjusted OR 1.68, 95% CI [1.15–2.46]), and high level of perceived self-efficacy (adjusted OR 1.79, 95% CI [1.23–2.61]) indicated higher likelihood of PA ( p &lt; .05). Interventions to improve PA among older people should include improving physical environmental attributes, creating more inexpensive and less time-consuming alternatives for PA, promoting peer support networks and activities to enhance self-efficacy.

P114 Screen Time and Physical Activity Patterns Among Preschoolers from Rural, Underserved Communities

<h3>Background</h3> High levels of screen time and low levels of physical activity (PA) are associated with childhood obesity. Sixty minutes or less for daily screen time and at least 180 minutes of PA, including 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), are current recommendations for preschoolers. The home environment, including the physical environment and parent attributes, may impact screen time and PA among children. <h3>Objective</h3> To examine whether screen time and PA levels of preschoolers relate home environment and parental attributes. <h3>Study Design, Setting, Participants</h3> The HEROs (HEalthy EnviROnments) study is a technology-based, interactive intervention to promote healthy eating and PA among preschoolers in rural Colorado. <h3>Measurable Outcomes/Analysis</h3> Data describing the home environment was collected at baseline (Fall 2019/Winter 2020) including demographics, anthropometrics, child and parent screen time, and home electronic and PA equipment availability and access. Accelerometers were used to collect 7 days of objective PA and sedentary time for children and parents. Descriptive statistics and independent samples <i>t</i> tests were conducted. <h3>Results</h3> Parent-child dyads (n = 32; 39.4% Hispanic) were included in the study. Children had low levels of MVPA (mean = 13.3 min, SD=7.5) and none met MVPA recommendations. Further, 60.6% exceeded screen time recommendations. Parents of children who met screen time recommendations were more likely to have a post-high school education (<i>t</i> = 3.063, <i>P</i> = 0.005 than those who did not meet recommendations. No group differences were noted in child or parent BMI, MVPA, sedentary time, the availability of PA equipment, number or type of screens children had access to, or parent screen time. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Screen time is high and physical activity is low among this sample of preschoolers. Given children's high engagement in screen time, future intervention efforts using digital strategies to increase PA could be undertaken.

Investigating the Invasion Pattern of the Alien Plant Solanum elaeagnifolium Cav. (Silverleaf Nightshade): Environmental and Human-Induced Drivers.

Invasive alien plant species have impacts on nature conservation, ecosystem services and agricultural production. To identify environmental and human-related drivers of the invasion of Solanum elaeagnifolium (Solanaceae)—one of the worst alien invasive plants worldwide—we conducted an extensive drive-by survey across the Greek territory (presence/absence data; all national major multilane highways; 12–25% of the remaining road network; driven 3–5 times during 2000–2020). These data were linked in GIS with (i) physical environmental attributes (elevation, climate, soil properties) and (ii) type and intensity of human-related activities (land uses, settlements and road type). Compared to previous records, our survey showed that the range of S. elaeagnifolium increased by 1750% during the last decades, doubling its main distribution centers and reaching higher elevations. Our study revealed that the presence of S. elaeagnifolium is associated with (i) higher maximum temperatures and precipitation in summer and low precipitation in winter, as well as with (ii) soil disturbance related to agricultural activities, settlements and road networks, thus facilitating its spread mainly at low altitudes. Our study elucidates the current invasion pattern of S. elaeagnifolium and highlights the urgent need for its widespread monitoring, at least in the noninvaded areas in Greece that have been surveyed in this study. Preventative measures and integrative initiatives should be implemented quickly, and urgently incorporated into current agricultural, road network and conservation-management regimes.

Investigating the Impact of Healthcare Environmental Design on Staff Security: A Systematic Review.

To systematically review the literature regarding the role of the physical environment in preventing or mitigating aggressive behavior toward healthcare professionals in acute care, outpatient, and psychiatric/behavioral health facilities. Globally, the incidence of violence against healthcare professionals is alarming. Poor environmental design has been identified as a risk factor of violence toward employees. The design of the physical setting in which healthcare is provided may moderate the incidence and severity of violence against healthcare workers. We conducted electronic database searches of PubMed and CINAHL through November 2018. Findings were organized according to four categories identified in the literature regarding crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) including natural surveillance, access control, territoriality, and other CPTED elements. Fifteen studies (published between 1991 and 2017) met the inclusion criteria. Of the 15 studies, 4 incorporated environmental interventions. In the 11 remaining studies, physical environment attributes (i.e., layout, location, ambient conditions, equipment) were among the factors affecting violent incidents and staff security. Most study settings were hospital-based (11, with 10 of those specifically focused on emergency departments), followed by behavioral health facilities (4 studies). Design-focused recommendations, such as providing a second door in a triage room and a sub-waiting area inside the treatment zone, were summarized according to CPTED categories. This review suggests that the physical environment in healthcare facilities may affect the incidence of violence by patients or visitors against staff. Further research is needed to identify environmental design strategies that may protect the safety of healthcare professionals.

IMPACTS OF RESIDENTIAL ENVIRONMENTS ON HOUSING SATISFACTION IN SELECTED NEIGHBOURHOODS OF OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

This study identified the important aspects of living environments on housing satisfaction in the selected neighbourhoods of Ogun State, Nigeria. This research, therefore, investigated the impact of the social and physical environment on housing satisfaction. The research areas are residential areas of the selected Local Government headquarters of Ogun state, Nigeria, with 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs). A mixed research approach is adopted, and data were collected through a structured questionnaire. The analysis was done with descriptive and inferential statistical tools. The study reveals that all environmental variables used in predicting respondents housing satisfaction in the study area were significant with P≤0.05, it was revealed that the most important environmental variable explaining housing satisfaction in the study area is the perception of respondents’ about the feeling of their neighbourhood (COP) explaining 37.3% of the variance in the dependent variable. The proximity to medical services was the second important variable contributing 17.2% variation in explaining respondents’ housing satisfaction. The level of security (SEC), availability of facilities and amenities (FAC), proximity to secondary school (PSS), proximity to the workplace (PWP) and community association (CAA) contributed 8.9%, 4.3%, 3.8%, 2.6% and 1.3% of the variance, respectively, in explaining respondents housing satisfaction. The findings imply that the neighbourhood social environment and community services aspects of residential environments were positively related to housing satisfaction. The results validated the significance of community networks at the neighbourhood level. The study recommends that in housing construction and development, the social and physical environmental attributes must, therefore, be put into consideration while providing housing for the people, be it public or real estate investors.

A qualitative assessment of solid waste management in Peleng township in Lobatse, Botswana considering spatial aspects

Even though solid waste management is widely researched, there is scanty literature addressing the influence of physical environmental attributes on solid waste management service provision in informal settlements. The aim of this study was to investigate the nexus between physical infrastructural planning and waste management service. To obtain relevant results, this study used the case study of Peleng township in Botswana. The study relied on empirical data collected from 91 randomly selected households. ArcGIS was used for mapping 550 purposively selected households, and for visualization of the physical infrastructure. This study concluded that the community is at the forefront of dealing with waste problems in their settlement. However, their interventions have fallen short of becoming profitable and sustainable due to a failure of the government to integrate solid waste management into mainstream urban development planning. The findings revealed that there is minimal government intervention for improved solid waste management in the area. It recommends that adequate attention must be given to road infrastructure and physical developments in order solid waste management in Peleng, Lobatse.

Airbnb Physical Environment Attributes and Customer Behavioral Intention: A Proposed Study

Airbnb Physical Environment Attributes and Customer Behavioral Intention: A Proposed Study

Differences in social and physical dimensions of perceived walkability in Mexican American and non-hispanic white walking environments in Tucson, Arizona

IntroductionPhysical activity patterns within the U.S. vary greatly across ethnicity, with data generally indicating lower rates among Hispanic/Latino adults. At the same time, Hispanic/Latino pedestrians face higher rates of injury and fatalities. Despite the importance of supportive physical activity environments on both health and safety outcomes, limited attention has been paid to ethnic or cultural differences in perceptions of supportive environments for walking. To fill this gap, we explore differences in physical and social environment contributors to perceived walkability between pedestrians in predominantly (>70%) Mexican American and predominantly non-Hispanic white areas in Tucson, Arizona. MethodsIn early 2017 the research team conducted brief on-street intercept interviews with pedestrians (N = 190) to learn about the environmental attributes associated with pedestrian perceptions of walkability. Study locations were matched for similar physical walkability metrics, income, and poverty rates. Consensus-based thematic coding identified 14 attributes of the built and social environment that contributed, positively and negatively, to perceptions of walkability. ResultsAttributes of the social environment, both positive (i.e., social interaction, social cohesion, and community identity) and negative (i.e., crime/security), were more frequently expressed as components of walkability in Mexican American study areas while physical environment attributes (i.e., infrastructure, street crossings, and aesthetics) were more frequently mentioned in non-Hispanic white areas. ConclusionsContributors to perceived walkability in non-Hispanic white study areas were largely consistent with existing built environment-focused walkability metrics. Differences seen in Mexican American areas suggest a need to better understand differences across populations, expand the construct of walkability to consider social environment attributes, and account for interactions between social and physical environments. Results highlight the need for collaboration between public health and planning professionals, to evaluate walkability using culturally relevant measures that account for the social environment, particularly in Mexican American and other communities of color.

Predicting transport-related cycling in Chinese employees using an integration of perceived physical environment and social cognitive factors

ObjectiveTransport-related cycling can contribute to employees’ increased physical activities in their daily lives, with potential health and environmental benefits. Still, a theoretical understanding of the links between the perceptions of physical environment and transport-related cycling through social cognitive theories is unclear. In addition, there is a lack of understanding on the moderating effects of the perceived physical environment on social cognitive pathways when predicting transport-related cycling. The purpose of this study was to apply the theory of planned behavior (TPB) framework to determine (a) whether TPB mediates the effects between the perceived physical environment and transport-related cycling and (b) whether the perceived physical environment moderates TPB-cycling relations. MethodsUsing a prospective design, Chinese employees (N = 193) self-reported their perceived physical environment of their workplace neighborhood (i.e., residential density, land-use diversity, land-use accessibility, street connectivity, infrastructures, aesthetics, traffic-related safety, and crime-related safety), attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavior control (PBC), intention, and duration and frequency of transport-related cycling in the last week. One month later, self-reported cycling for transport was again collected from a subset sample of employees (N = 98). Mediation and moderation structural equation models linking perceived physical environment, TPB constructs, and transport-related cycling were tested. ResultsThe effects from residential density to attitudes and subjective norm, from land-use diversity and street connectivity to subjective norm and PBC, and from aesthetics and crime-related safety to attitudes, were found significant and positive. Attitudes, subjective norm, and PBC predicted intention, in which intention further predicted employee’s future transport-related cycling one month later. Importantly, attitudes, subjective norm, and PBC mediated the relations from land-use diversity and street connectivity to intention, while intention mediated the effect from PBC to employee’s future transport-related cycling. Past behavior showed significant effects on attitudes, subjective norm, PBC, intention, and employee’s future transport-related cycling. The effect from past behavior to intention was mediated by the social cognitive variables of attitudes, subjective norm, and PBC. However, no moderating effects of perceived physical environments on the TPB-cycling relations were found, except the moderating effect of crime-related safety on the path from PBC to cycling. ConclusionCurrent results indicate that Chinese employees’ transport-related cycling are a function of environmental (i.e., perceived physical environmental attributes) and social cognitive (i.e., attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and intention) factors. Findings of the current study can inform the development of multi-component behavioral change interventions targeting the improvement of transport-related cycling for employees.

Expanded comfort assessment in outdoor urban public spaces using Box-Cox transformation

In order to assess outdoor comfort of individuals, this paper discusses the results of an expanded non-linear model using Box-Cox transformation. Instead of thermal sensation, individuals’ comfort assessment was used as the dependent variable. Further, a flexible non-linear model that allows for decreasing or increasing marginal effects of the explanatory variables on the ratings of outdoor comfort was specified. Apart from the physical microclimatic and environmental attributes, the variables related to the socio-demographics, emotional status, expectations, preference, perceptions and behavioral aspects were also incorporated in the model. To reduce the potential dependency of results on the sampled locations, a stated choice experiment was designed to systematically vary the conditions with different combinations of spatial attributes. The data was collected through a structured questionnaire and physical measurements of the surrounding environment from eight public spaces in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Results show that the influence of non-physical factors, such as socio-demographics, behavioral and psychological attributes, on outdoor comfort are substantial and significant.

Exploring the Validity of the Perceived Restorativeness Soundscape Scale: A Psycholinguistic Approach.

Soundscapes affect people's health and well-being and contribute to the perception of environments as restorative. This paper continues the validation process of a previously developed Perceived Restorativeness Soundscape Scale (PRSS). The study takes a novel methodological approach to explore the PRSS face and construct validity by examining the qualitative reasons for participants' numerical responses to the PRSS items. The structure and framing of items are first examined, to produce 44 items which are assessed on a seven-point Likert agreement scale, followed by a free format justification. Ten English speaking participants completed the PRSS interpretation questionnaire in two cafes in Montréal, Canada. Interpretation of participant free format responses led to six themes, which related to either the individual (personal attributes, personal outcomes), the environment (physical environment attributes, soundscape design) or an interaction of the two (behavior setting, normality, and typicality). The themes are discussed in relation to each Attention Restoration Theory (ART) component, namely Fascination, Being-Away, Compatibility, and Extent. The paper concludes by discussing the face and construct validity of the PRSS, as well as the wider methodological and theoretical implications for soundscape and attention restoration research, including the terminology importance in items measuring ART components and the value of all four components in assessing perceived restorativeness.

Influence of school environments on childhood obesity in California

ObjectiveTo conduct a state-wide examination of public schools and the school neighborhood as potential targets for environmental public health tracking to address childhood obesity. MethodsWe examined the relationship of social and physical environmental attributes of the school environment (within school and neighborhood) and childhood obesity in California with machine learning (Random Forest) and multilevel methods. We used data compiled from the California Department of Education, the U.S. Geological Survey, ESRI's Business Analyst, the U.S. Census, and other public sources for ecologic level variables for various years and assessed their relative importance to obesity as determined from the statewide Physical Fitness Test 2003 through 2007 for grades 5, 7, and 9 (n = 5,265,265). ResultsIn addition to individual-level race and gender, the following within and school neighborhood variables ranked as the most important model contributors based on the Random Forest analysis and were included in multilevel regressions clustered on the county. Violent crime, English learners, socioeconomic disadvantage, fewer physical education (PE) and fully credentialed teachers, and diversity index were positively associated with obesity while academic performance index, PE participation, mean educational attainment and per capita income were negatively associated with obesity. The most highly ranked built or physical environment variables were distance to the nearest highway and greenness, which were 10th and 11th most important, respectively. ConclusionsMany states in the U.S. do not have school-based surveillance programs that collect body mass index data. System-level determinants of obesity can be important for tracking and intervention. The results of these analyses suggest that the school social environment factors may be especially important. Disadvantaged and low academic performing schools have a higher risk for obesity. Supporting such schools in a targeted way may be an efficient way to intervene and could impact both health and academic outcomes. Some of the more important variables, such as having credentialed teachers and participating in PE, are modifiable risk factors.