Xplaining the role of land-use distribution and the built environment in the physical activity and health of residents of urban neighborhoods: the case study of Isfahan metropolis

Document Type : Research article

Authors

1 Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Art, University of Gilan , Rasht , Iran

2 Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Art and Architecture, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran

3 Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Art, University of Gilan, Rasht, Iran

10.22059/jurbangeo.2024.374952.1927

Abstract

ABSTRACT
The growth of the urbanization rate and the increase in physical and mental diseases caused by people's inactivity. In the present research, which was conducted in Isfahan metropolis, it was first determined that the average body mass index of the sample was overweight (=25.89). Also, the weekly activity metabolism index on the average of the total minutes of activity per week (=3.92) showed that the activity status of people is at an average level. Then, using SEM, the role of built environment components on people's physical activity. The impact of physical activity on residents' health was also evaluated. The study area was 15 districts of Isfahan, and the questionnaire was distributed among 402 residents of these districts. The values of reliability, validity and overall fit of the model are within appropriate limits. The results showed that all the variables in the first level of the model, including "variety of uses," "access to uses and services," "street connectivity," "walking and cycling possibilities," "cognitive beauty,” “safety," and "security" had a positive and significant impact on "built environment" and among them "walking and cycling facilities" more than other components. In the second level, the average physical activity was measured in different ranges and intensities, and the coefficients of the path of the built environment were positive and significant in both activity ranges. The results in the third level of the model showed that "activity for sports and recreation" affects the health of residents more than activity for daily affairs.
Extended abstract
Introduction
With the growth of the urbanization rate and the increase of physical and mental diseases caused by the inactivity of people during the past decades, the effort to create platforms for increasing physical activity at the level of urban communities, especially in developed countries, has become one of the challenging issues in management and the planning of cities. However, less attention has been paid to this issue in developing countries. Based on this, the main goal of the current research is to explain the causal relationships between the distribution and access to land-use, the components of the environment, physical activity in different domains, and physical and mental health. Therefore, the authors aim to answer some basic questions as follows:
First, what are the components of the pedestrian-oriented environment? Moreover, to what extent does distribution and access to users define an environment that affects physical activity? Second, the physical movements of people in the studied society, according to the division into activity domains and their intensity, to what extent do the smell and the built environment affect the activity domains? Third, what was the state of physical and mental health of the sample in this research? How do activity domains and the built environment affect people's health?
 
 
Methodology
The current research is practical in nature and explanatory in purpose. The research method is survey and descriptive-analytical due to the nature of the topic, the investigated components and the approach governing this research. The data collection method is library documents and field observations (questionnaire). The statistical population of the research is citizens living in the neighborhoods of Isfahan city, and the sample size is 402 people. In the current research, the sampling method was random and survey using a questionnaire, so by studying the previous researches, 72 questions were extracted. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the total of all items equals "0.874" which indicates the good and reliable internal validity of the questionnaire questions. In the following, in order to analyze the data and answer the research questions, SPSS software and structural equation modeling in PLS (4.1) software were used due to the non-parametric nature of the data.
 
Results and discussion
 In this study, which was conducted in the metropolis of Isfahan, an attempt was made to investigate the role of the built environment on the physical activity of people in different domains while counting the environmental components that underlie people's mobility, with an emphasis on the distribution and access to uses. The study also assessed physical activity's influence on physical and mental health. The process was carried out using the partial least squares (PLS) method. In addition, the activity metabolism index and body mass index were investigated. The values of reliability, validity and overall fit of the model were acceptable. The results of this research showed the variables of "variety of uses," "access to uses and services," "street connectivity," "walking and cycling facilities," "cognitive aesthetics", "traffic safety," and "security from crime," all define the "built environment" variable well and have a significant relationship with this criterion. In the second level of the model, people's average physical activity was measured in different ranges and intensities, and the coefficients of the built environment path on both activity ranges examined in this research were positive and significant. The results at the level of the model showed that both activity domains and the built environment have a positive and significant effect on the health of the residents.
 
Conclusion
The present research attempted to measure environmental factors' role in increasing urban space users' health levels. In this regard, the built environment was evaluated objectively and perceptually at three general levels. All the components with significant and positive values measured well in the built environment. At the second level, we tried to explain the environment's role in various activity dimensions. In this regard and the fitted model, we concluded that the variable "built environment" has a positive and significant effect on the two variables," physical activity for daily affairs" and "activity for sports and recreation." In fact, the physical movements of people in the urban environment are generally a function of two general domains of activity as activities that are a means to accomplish other purposes (such as doing daily tasks, transportation, etc.) and activities that are formed as the main purpose of users to be in the urban space (such as sports and recreation). The results of this research at the third level showed that human health is significantly affected by the built environment and physical activity in both physical and mental dimensions. The effectiveness of this variable from both activity domains (both for daily affairs and for sports and recreation) had positive and significant values. In general, it can be said that the built environment affects the physical and mental health of the residents with a strong role of land-use distribution method.
 
 
Funding
There is no funding support.
 
Authors’ Contribution
Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.
 
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
Acknowledgments
 We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.
 

Keywords

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Geographical Urban Planning Research (GUPR)
Volume 12, Issue 1
May 2024
Pages 125-148

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