Elders’ perspectives into physical activity and mental well-being in urban parks: case of Golestan Park in Tabriz, Iran
摘要
In society, older men are particularly at risk both mentally and physically. Urban parks and green spaces are vital as they provide people with a place to improve their physical and mental health and well-being. Given the lack of research on the tendencies of older people in developing countries such as Iran is departure point of the current study. The data of this study were collected by distributing questionnaires to 273 elderly men in Golestan Park in Tabriz. The questionnaire was divided into four categories: park accessibility, park esthetics, park amenities, and physical activity. Descriptive statistics, validity and reliability of questions, and test of normality of data were performed using SPSS software. To obtain more sophisticated result, the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) in Smart-PLS software to make the SEM method more complete. The results showed strong value of R2 for both dependent variables of mental well-being (R2 = 0.729) and physical activity (R2 = 0.594). Urban parks positively affect physical activity level and mental well-being stage. Also, physical activity had straight positive effect on mental well-being of elderly people. In addition, this study can be useful to create a guide for landscape architects and urban planners in designing urban parks and green spaces to provide a more comfortable atmosphere for older people, which promotes their mentality.