Spatial distribution, activity zone preference, and activity intensity of senior park users in a metropolitan area

Urban parks can bring multiple health benefits to seniors and thus are important to their lives. This study investigated seniors' spatial distribution, preferred activity zones, and activity intensity during park visits. We used GPS trackers to collect spatial location information and accelerometers to record metabolic equivalent of energy (MET) at an interval of 10 s, and examined differences in activity intensity according to activity zone type. Data from 286 seniors in two large urban parks in Shanghai, China were included. We identified eight park activity zone types: pathway, paved open space, sports area, children's playground, lawn, water, other natural area, building, and other area. Grid cells of 5 m by 5 m were created and hotspot analysis was utilized to identify the activity zones most frequently used by seniors. ANOVA post-hoc analysis was applied to investigate the variance between activity zone cells in terms of mean visit point counts, total visit point MET, and average MET. We also utilized latent class analysis to identify distinctive subgroups of seniors. The results indicate that seniors' spatial distributions vary vastly both between and within park activity zones. Of the eight zone types, paved open space was used most frequently, and seniors were most active on pathways. Other natural area also had high usage, and featured higher average activity intensity than sports area, water, and building and other area. Children's playground had higher average activity intensity than lawn or water. Finally, three distinctive groups of seniors were identified: short-stay active walker, long-stay light walker, and short-stay transient. These findings have direct implications for park design practice. Paved open space and pathways should be carefully designed based on the specific seniors' activity patterns. Furthermore, seniors' needs should be considered in the design of playgrounds in parks, where they accompany their grandchildren, and of other natural area, where they stretch their bodies and enjoy fresh air. The diverse activity patterns of the subgroups of seniors should be addressed in future studies.