Development and evaluation of environmental interventions on green space utilisation to promote health and well-being

• Main Author: Roberts, Hannah Elaine
• Other Authors: Kellar, Ian ; McEachan, Rosie ; Conner, Mark ; Ballas, Dimitris
• Published: University of Leeds 2017
• Subjects: 150
• Online Access: https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.737843

There is increasing recognition that the use of green space has a beneficial impact on health, and so understanding how this can be encouraged is important to maximise these benefits. The role of quality of green space in determining use has so far been under-researched. This evidence is vital for urban planners in designing health-promoting environments. In Chapter 2 of this thesis, previous environmental interventions to increase green space use were identified and the behaviour change techniques employed were described. While the results were promising, the use of multiple techniques and poor standard of reporting prevents specific effective techniques being recommended. Chapter 3 explores the relationship between park features, park satisfaction and park use, using data from a sub-sample of the Born in Bradford cohort (n= 620) and quality audit data from 41 parks in Bradford. Amenities and usability were found to be positively associated with park satisfaction, while incivilities were shown to be negatively associated with park satisfaction and park use. In Chapter 4 a qualitative study was conducted to explore preferences for park features. Differences in preference were observed between users and non-users of the park. It is recommended that interventions in green spaces are designed with input from the community in order to capture the social context and maximise acceptability. Chapter 5 therefore presents a pilot study of the early stages of the co-design of an environmental intervention in a green space whereby priorities for improvement were identified and refined with involvement from the community. The approach was deemed acceptable, and a number of recommendations for future co-design processes were made.