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Title: Park design and children’s active play a micro-scale spatial analysis of intensity of play in Olmsted’s Delaware Park

Author
item BAEK, SOLHYON - UNIVERSITY OF BUFFALO
item RAJA, SAMINA - UNIVERSITY OF BUFFALO
item PARK, JIYOUNG - UNIVERSITY OF BUFFALO
item EPSTEIN, LEONARD - UNIVERSITY OF BUFFALO
item YIN, YI - UNIVERSITY OF BUFFALO
item Roemmich, James

Submitted to: Journal of Environment and Planning B
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/31/2014
Publication Date: 11/2/2015
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/61778
Citation: Baek, S., Raja, S., Park, J., Epstein, L.H., Yin, Y., Roemmich, J.N. 2015. Park design and children’s active play a micro-scale spatial analysis of intensity of play in Olmsted’s Delaware Park. Journal of Environment and Planning B. 42:1079-1097.

Interpretive Summary: The role of park design on intensity of physical activity among youth was examined. The actual, unstructured use of a park - specifically, Delaware Park, an Olmsted-designed park in Buffalo, New York - by 94 children was objectively observed and analyzed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Geographic Position Systems (GPS), and accelerometers. A grid of 25 x 25 ft2 cells was overlaid on the entire park. Some features of the park – especially more complex landscape surfaces, a diversity of amenities, and availability of pedestrian trails promoted greater visitation of the cell and greater intensity of youth physical activity those cells.

Technical Abstract: This paper offers a micro-scale exploration of the role of park design on intensity of physical activity among youth. The actual, unstructured use of a park - specifically, Delaware Park, an Olmsted-designed park in Buffalo, New York - by 94 children was objectively observed and analyzed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Geographic Position Systems (GPS), and accelerometers. Data were analyzed at the scale of 25 x 25 ft2 grid cells overlaid as a grid on the entire park. Results from the regression analysis show that particular features of parks – especially complexity in landscape surfaces, diversity in amenities, and availability of pedestrian trails – enable greater intensity of youth physical activity in a park.