The Associations of Built Environment with Older People Recreational Walking and Physical Activity in a Chinese Small-Scale City of Yiwu

Abstract

Physical activity would bring in plenty of health benefits, especially recreational physical activity (RPA). Previous studies have suggested that built environment would affect older people’s recreational walking (RW) and RPA, but how the effects exist in a small-scale Chinese city remains unclear. Two hundred and fifty-two older participants were recruited in the city of Yiwu using cross-sectional survey of random samples in 2019. RW and RPA level of participants and perceived scores of built environments were collected using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire and Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale, respectively. Linear regression analysis was conducted to investigate the association of built environment with older people’s RW and RPA. The results showed that two main factors affecting older people’s RW and RPA were residential density and aesthetics. Additionally, access to services was related to RW, and street connectivity was correlated with RPA. The associations of RW with built environment varied slightly with demographic variables included in the regression model. All the results suggested that lower residential density, better aesthetics environment, and higher street connectivity would motivate older people to engage more in RW and RPA. The better access to services encourages only RW, not RPA, in older people. These findings would be helpful for policy decision makers in the urban construction process in Yiwu. More studies are needed to enlarge the scientific evidence base about small-scale cities in China.

The built environment’s nonlinear effects on the elderly’s propensity to walk

“…This indicates that built environment characteristics significantly influence older persons' proclivity to walk, which is consistent with the results of Cheng et al (2020) and Yang et al (2021), who also studied the relationship between older adults and walking in Nanjing, China and Hong Kong, China, where built environment factors dominated in a nonlinear model. This result also complements the findings in the European and North American samples, where built environment variables had a greater impact on walking than sociodemographic variables (Gim, 2013;Wang and Ozbilen, 2020;Yu et al, 2021).…”

The relationship between physical activity, physical health, and mental health among older Chinese adults: A scoping review

“…To facilitate older people's daily amount of exercise, review studies mentioned that a physical-activity-friendly environment or outdoor recreation can motivate older adults to exercise more (135,136). In addition, engaging in physical activity in an aesthetic climate such as horticultural therapy activities can also increase older adults' recreational physical activity (137). Future studies could consider exploring older adults' perception of community or neighborhood physical activity environments and incorporating considerations such as walkability, accessibility, safety, and aesthetics in local urban areas rather than encouraging single-exercise interventions (138).…”

Nonlinear Effects of the Built Environment on Light Physical Activity among Older Adults: The Case of Lanzhou, China

“…The nonlinear relationship between walking time and built environment was investigated using a random forest nonlinear model, with built environment factors having a significant effect and being more than 50% important in both models. In previous nonlinear studies in Europe and North America, the meaningful relationship between sociodemographic and built environment variables was less transparent [ 65 , 66 , 67 ], and this study demonstrates that created environment variables have a greater impact on light physical activity than sociodemographic variables.…”