Active Park Use Among Youth: Impact of Built Environment - Research Paper

Effect of Built Environment on Active Park Use Among the Youth

Background of the Research / Problem Statement

Globally, researchers and policymakers are constantly questioning whether people, including youths and other adults, are living the best quality of life. The research problem that this study sets to answer is how built environment can affect the use of Active Park among the youth. This will play a huge role in a city's plan towards introducing a new active park. Research by Collin et al. (2012) has it that physically active youths tend to preserve the capacity to function and independence (Collin et al., 2012). As a result, this helps them avoid any chronic illness as they age, thereby attaining a greater quality of life. There is, therefore, a considerable need to promote physical activities to ensure not only health benefits but also promote social interactions among the youth, enhance social support, and, more importantly, provide a great sense of cohesion in the society. Evinced in the past and recent research, there is more interest in establishing the benefits of the built environment on a lively lifestyle (Mitchell et al., Clark & Gilliland, 2016). Specifically, it is essential to determine the essence of social parks, towards promoting active recreation as well as social interaction for the youth. As such, studies have found that youths living in areas that have the availability of large recreational spaces as well as park density have more chances of engaging in various physical activities, mostly as a result of the built environment (Rhodes et al., Saelens & Sauvage-Mar, 2018).

Moreover, the inclusion of active as a way of increasing physical activities in a city ensures the longevity of life among the youths. However, ideally, it is not the accessibility of such spaces that matter, but also the quality of maintenance to ensure effective use of the built environment (Yi., 2019). Moreover, for the effective establishment, there should be a consideration that individuals need to walk in the neighboring regions, to access active parks. As such, cities are therefore supposed to consider the various natural land built environment while planning (Sarmiento et al., 2010). This includes the connectivity of the streets, the existing types of land-use, the terrain of the slope (Loh et al., 2019). These factors could be relevant in determining parks use among the youths and, therefore, help the city in decision making about the inclusion of the physical activity place while conducting urban planning. Handy (2002) suggesteds that it is evident that in regions such as America, with the high number of youths, the research of urban form, as well as its association with health-promoting aspects like the use of built environments like park use, has huge significance and therefore requires in-depth examination (Lopez & Hynes, 2006).

Environmental changes such as the creation of new spaces such as an active park target specific groups in the society, in this case, the youth. Further, as pointed out earlier, this may, therefore, encourage a broader range of activities in the general population. Projects should, therefore, always consider the outcomes of the specific physical activities, including the direct observation of the number of people use the space (Lee et al., 2, Ewing & Sesso, 2009). Furthermore, estimation of the volume of time expected to be spent walking along with other activities by the target population in the park is also necessary for the city to ensure the creation of an active and accommodating park.

Theoretical Framework

Fig. 1 Theoretical Framework for the study. Source: (Panter et al., 2017)

This utility framework will be applicable in apply in the study for the introduction of a new park in the city to allow for the physical activities of the youths. Even though this may appear as a single intervention, various environmental attributes will likely be changed in a particular city (Panter et al., 2017). Moreover, changes in social support, social cohesion, as well as social environments, may also be prompted. The research will, therefore, need to use data regarding the infrastructure of the area, the level of physical activities, the perceptions of the local environment such as safety, and, most importantly, why and how people use the available infrastructure in the area. As such, tThis will, therefore, help to determine the effect and usability of the introduced park facility in the city.

Research Objectives

This research has the main objective of assessing the relation between active usage of parks and other measures of the built environment. This involves characteristics like the density of parks, the index of connectivity, slope, and terrain of a city and land use mix, among others. Furthermore, the study has the objective of determining the specific part of the built environment on the walking pattern as well as health benefits, including the quality of life among the youth in cities. It is also the objective of the study to assist in the decision-making process concerning the inclusion of physical activities in cities, during urban planning. Additionally, passively, the paper has the objective of establishing how the built environment determines physical activity and the effect of urban planning.

Research Questions

The main research question for this study is:

• Does the built environment affect active park use among the youth?

Other research questions for the study are:

• How does built environment , active parks influence a city's decision making on the inclusion of physical activities in a city?
• What are the specific roles of built environment on the walking pattern and life quality among the youth?

The Rrelevance of the Study

The built environment that the youths live in has an essential effect on their activities. It is, therefore, necessary relevant to determine the characteristics and associations that exist between built environmentenvironments attributes as well as the active park use among these youths (Harris et al., 2013). Specifically, it is expected that as the outcome, the study will identify the relevant issues that can be considered while introducing a new active park in a city's environment. As a result, this would enable the effective planning and structure of an urban city to improve physical activity and, more importantly, enhance both physical and mental health among the youths, as well as increased societal interactions (Parra et al., 2010). The city council will be the beneficial for the study as the planning will enable them determine the best way of building the active park in the city. Besides, results obtained, the study can be stored and be used for reference in future studies about built environment, physical activities, and health concerns among the youth among other adults in a particular city.

Furthermore, determining the characteristics of the built environment would play a massive role in establishing how physical parks can be used effectively among the use and is therefore of necessity.. As such, the results obtained from the study will contribute toward enhancing the attributes of parks to make sure that they accommodate every individual in the target population within the city. According to Oreskovic et al. (2015), researching the effects of the built environment on active park use among the youth is also significant in identifying the existing gaps in this particular field, thereby enabling the possibility of improvements in the future.

Methods

Study Design

Because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the rmy research will mainly be based on data from secondary research. The research will, therefore, collect and use data and information available from other existing researches online. This will help prevent the movements from place to place amidst the current pandemic. The study will further consider limiting the research only to the relevant sources of the subject and, more importantly, ones that give accurate information about the effects of built environment on the use of active parks among the youth in a city.

As a result of the CovidCOVID-19 limitation towards conducting feasible research, this study will specifically use most of its data from specific research. For instance, the built environment and older adults (BEOAP), provides essential data and information to be used in the project (Parra et al., 2010). Further, the aim of the focused research by Parra et al.'s study had a need to determine the function of built environment on walking and the quality of life. The study will, therefore, be of help to my project, considering that it aligns with the objective of this particular study.

Outcome Variable

This research is based on the outcome variable from a secondary research by Parra et al. Importantly, tThe active park used in the secondary research was based on the instrument designed by Fuzhongg, involving a Likert reaction scale of five major category (Parra et al., 2010). Specifically, the research's main question to determine the relation between built environment and active park use provided the basis for the research's finding. The study sort to determine how often people visited the parks near their residences, including going for walks, exercising along with any other physical activity (Parra et al., 2010). Based on the question, the responses were analyzed as dichotomized as active park use versus no active park use. This was in the form of frequently and very frequently versus never, rarely, and sometimes. This research will also refer to a study by Mitchel et al. (2016) that drew data from a multi-year study referred to as the Spatial Environment and Activity Monitoring (STEAM), a project towards investigating the effects of the built environment towards health related behaviors. The target population were required to complete a weekly multi tool procedure to record their neighborhood activities and environmental perceptions. Feasibility

This research will mainly depend on and on use data from secondary sources towards addressing the research questions as well as the research objective. The study will consider using data and information from relevant research to ensure that it effectively addresses the identified problems. This is due to the current pandemic in the world that has led to the need for minimal visits. The research therefore recognizes that it would be more effective to conduct and use secondary information, to avoid the risks posed to the individuals. The study methods used by the study are feasible because they take into account all the relevant variables for the research objectives. Furthermore, the research is also feasible because it will be reviewing past studies that have also proved to be are also feasible in all the aspects., hence ensuring that the overall project is also feasible.Research Ethics and Integrity

Professionals in built environment have a huge responsibility in an economy's development through designs, construction process as well as the development of infrastructures. More importantly, the activities of built environment professionals pose a big impact on the quality of life, including the health and safety of the people, as well as the environment in general (Panter et al., Jones & Van-Sluijs, 2008). As of specific concern in this study, various ethical considerations, including honesty, efficiency, loyalty, integrity, competence, health and safety, and health, are of most importance for professionals in this particular industry (Giles-Corti et al., 2019). For this research, these attributes of ethics and integrity will be of interest in the decision making process about the inclusion of an active park use among the youths....