Impacts Of Urban Park Characteristics On Leisure Physical Activity And Public Health In The Guanzhong Urban Agglomeration

Urban parks and their ancillary leisure physical activity(hereinafter referred to as physical activity,PA)facilities are a fundamental resource for serving the public health of the country.There is a lack of comprehensive research on the characteristics of urban parks in relation to PA behavior and public health in the context of urban scale differentiation.The urban parks in typical cities of the Guanzhong urban agglomeration(Xi’an,Baoji,Xianyang and Yangling)in Shaanxi Province were selected as the research object.Based on comparing the construction practices of urban parks at home and abroad in promoting PA of residents in each country,this study evaluated the level of PA services from the perspective of the urban park system scale and the park site scale respectively by establishing a quantitative evaluation system.The study also used field research to obtain self-reported data on PA behavior and health of park users.Regression analysis was used to construct models of the influence of park characteristics on PA behavior and health,and to verify the mediating effect of PA paths.It provides a basis for optimizing strategies for the construction of different types of parks in cities of different scales under the orientation of national fitness.The main results of the study are as follows:(1)At the park site scale,the three dimensions of park area,accessibility and fitness facilities are quantified to evaluate the level of PA-supporting services in urban parks.The level of support services for PA in urban parks in the study area was low,with the lowest scores for the fitness facilities dimension in parks.The average area of fitness facilities per park was about 1.2 hm~2;The national fitness station was the most numerous fitness venue in parks;about 50%of parks didn’t have children’s PA venue or children’s amusement area,with residential parks and gardens being the most under-constructed in terms of children’s activity venues.The Physical Activity Support Index(PSI)of urban parks showed the characteristics of Yangling>Xi’an>Baoji>Xianyang;the PSI of comprehensive parks and sports parks were higher than the overall average.(2)At the urban park system scale,the spatial layout of urban park system was evaluated from the perspective of PA services,and service blind areas were identified.Using fifteen minutes of slow traffic as the time threshold,the proportion of park service area showed the characteristics of Baoji>Xi’an>Xianyang>Yangling,and the proportion of population served showed the characteristics of Yangling and Xi’an>Baoji and Xianyang;Special use parks had the highest proportion of service area and service population,and comprehensive parks and residential parks served a relatively low proportion of service area.The"double-low model"of PA service level and allocation fairness in urban parks was concentrated in the peripheral areas of the main urban areas of the city,such as Xi’an Liucunbao Street,Baoji Panxi Town,Xianyang Wujiabao Street and Yangling research unit 2.The"double-high model"was based on areas with good urban economic development or superior natural resources,such as Xi’an Qujiang Street,Baoji Qiaonan Street and Xianyang Weibin Street.The"low-high model"was dominated by old urban areas or areas with relatively dispersed populations,and the"high-low model"was less numerous in the study area.Xi’an and Yangling had the largest number of"double-low model"streets(36%)or research units(50%),and the gap between the proportion of"double-low model"and"double high mode"was large,and the park construction and development were relatively uneven;Baoji(34.62%)and Xianyang(42.86%)had the highest proportion of streets in the"double-high model",except for the"high-low model",the proportion of streets in each model was not significantly different.(3)Analyzing the PA behavior and health status of park users and the influencing factors from the demand side.Among the 3,431 park users surveyed in the field,the frequency of PA averaged 3 times a week,with an average duration of about 80 minutes each time.The proportion of people who did not participate in PA and participated in low intensity PA was highest(51.76%);the rate of attainment of PA standards in parks was significantly lower among minors.Over 70%of respondents reported good physical and mental health,but children and adolescents had significantly higher rates of overweight or obesity.Whether or not PA in parks was up to standard was significantly influenced by factors such as age,education and exercise habits,frequency of park visits and venue use preferences.Self-rated physical and mental health were significantly influenced by frequency of park visits and duration of PA.(4)To identify the park characteristics factors that influencing PA and self-rated health,as well as the mediating effects of PA pathways.Park fitness facilities characteristics that affected PA and self-rated health included professional sports venues,children’s PA venues and national fitness station;park system characteristics that affected PA included park size,construction stage and accessibility.Professional sports venues were the driving factor for park-based PA and self-rated health in each city.In addition,Xi’an park-based PA could be promoted by increasing accessibility and the number of nation fitness station,adding nation fitness trails and the diversity of venue types within parks.The number or size of multifunctional sports venue were the hindrance factor for the improvement of park-based PA in each city.The size of national fitness trails was negatively associated with park-based PA in Xi’an and Xianyang,and the number or size of children’s amusement area were negatively associated with park-based PA in Baoji.Professional sports venue was positively associated with park-based PA and self-reported health in residential parks,special use parks and garden.The number of children’s physical activity venues was positively in increasing PA in residential parks and special use parks;increasing the diversity of venue types within parks was conducive to increasing PA and health in comprehensive parks;area of national fitness was negatively associated with PA in comprehensive parks.The level of PA only played a partial mediating role between the dimension of the park fitness facilities and physical as well as mental health,and the mediating effect accounted for16.79%and 13.13%of the total effect,respectively.Based on the above results,under the premise of satisfying the composite use function of urban parks,attention should be paid to improving the level of PA services residential parks.Different cities had different priorities for optimizing green space:Xi’an and Yangling suggested narrowing the gap in PA services from the park layout.Baoji and Xianyang suggested that emphasis should be placed on improving the support of PA within parks.As an important part of national fitness facilities,China’s urban parks have great potential for improvement.Re-examining the functional positioning of urban parks,establishing a PA demand-oriented classification system for China’s urban parks,and enriching the construction of park activity venues should become the main direction of park optimization in the future.