The impact of renewal of an urban park in Belgium on park use, park-based physical activity, and social interaction: A natural experiment

Louise Poppe; Delfien Van Dyck; Emma De Keyser; Amber Van Puyvelde; Jenny Veitch; Benedicte Deforche

doi:10.1016/j.cities.2023.104428

The impact of renewal of an urban park in Belgium on park use, park-based physical activity, and social interaction: A natural experiment

Louise Poppe, Delfien Van Dyck, Emma De Keyser, Amber Van Puyvelde, Jenny Veitch, Benedicte Deforche

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Abstract

Studies investigating the impact of park renewal on park use, park-based physical activity (PA), and social interaction are scarce and mainly conducted in Australia and North-America. This study investigates the impact of renewal of an urban public park in Belgium, Europe, on park use, park-based PA, and social interaction using a natural experiment. Baseline observational data of park visitors and their levels of PA were collected in two public parks with similar features and amenities. After the renewal of one park (i.e., installation of (1) paved walking and cycling paths, (2) benches and picnic tables, (3) outdoor fitness equipment, and (4) playgrounds for different age categories), observations were repeated in both parks. At posttest, park users' social interaction was assessed. Generalized linear (mixed) models were fitted to investigate the impact of the renewal on the number of park visitors, their levels of PA, and their level of social interaction. We found that urban park renewal can strongly increase the number of park visitors across age categories. However, no evidence for an effect of park renewal on visitors' mean PA level was detected. Similarly, the level of social interaction observed among park visitors at posttest did not differ between both parks.

Original language	English
Article number	104428
Pages (from-to)	1-11
Number of pages	11
Journal	CITIES
Volume	140
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2023.104428
Publication status	Published - Sep 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) (ID 3G068519). LP is supported by a FWO postdoctoral fellowship (ID 12ZF122N). JV is supported by an Australian National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowship (ID 101928). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier Ltd

Copyright:
Copyright 2023 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Keywords

Public park
Natural experiment
Physical activity
Natural environment
Green spaces
Public open spaces

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10.1016/j.cities.2023.104428

Manuscript_natural_experiment_accepted_versionAccepted author manuscript, 657 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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title = "The impact of renewal of an urban park in Belgium on park use, park-based physical activity, and social interaction: A natural experiment",

abstract = "Studies investigating the impact of park renewal on park use, park-based physical activity (PA), and social interaction are scarce and mainly conducted in Australia and North-America. This study investigates the impact of renewal of an urban public park in Belgium, Europe, on park use, park-based PA, and social interaction using a natural experiment. Baseline observational data of park visitors and their levels of PA were collected in two public parks with similar features and amenities. After the renewal of one park (i.e., installation of (1) paved walking and cycling paths, (2) benches and picnic tables, (3) outdoor fitness equipment, and (4) playgrounds for different age categories), observations were repeated in both parks. At posttest, park users' social interaction was assessed. Generalized linear (mixed) models were fitted to investigate the impact of the renewal on the number of park visitors, their levels of PA, and their level of social interaction. We found that urban park renewal can strongly increase the number of park visitors across age categories. However, no evidence for an effect of park renewal on visitors' mean PA level was detected. Similarly, the level of social interaction observed among park visitors at posttest did not differ between both parks.",

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author = "Louise Poppe and {Van Dyck}, Delfien and {De Keyser}, Emma and {Van Puyvelde}, Amber and Jenny Veitch and Benedicte Deforche",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) (ID 3G068519). LP is supported by a FWO postdoctoral fellowship (ID 12ZF122N). JV is supported by an Australian National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowship (ID 101928). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 Elsevier Ltd Copyright: Copyright 2023 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

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N2 - Studies investigating the impact of park renewal on park use, park-based physical activity (PA), and social interaction are scarce and mainly conducted in Australia and North-America. This study investigates the impact of renewal of an urban public park in Belgium, Europe, on park use, park-based PA, and social interaction using a natural experiment. Baseline observational data of park visitors and their levels of PA were collected in two public parks with similar features and amenities. After the renewal of one park (i.e., installation of (1) paved walking and cycling paths, (2) benches and picnic tables, (3) outdoor fitness equipment, and (4) playgrounds for different age categories), observations were repeated in both parks. At posttest, park users' social interaction was assessed. Generalized linear (mixed) models were fitted to investigate the impact of the renewal on the number of park visitors, their levels of PA, and their level of social interaction. We found that urban park renewal can strongly increase the number of park visitors across age categories. However, no evidence for an effect of park renewal on visitors' mean PA level was detected. Similarly, the level of social interaction observed among park visitors at posttest did not differ between both parks.

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The impact of renewal of an urban park in Belgium on park use, park-based physical activity, and social interaction: A natural experiment

Abstract

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Keywords

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