Examining Health-Related Effects of Refurbishment to Parks in a Lower Socioeconomic Area: The ShadePlus Natural Experiment

Abstract

Degraded parks in disadvantaged areas are underutilized for recreation, which may impact long-term health. Using a natural experiment, we examined the effects of local government refurbishments to parks (n = 3 intervention; n = 3 comparison) in low socioeconomic areas (LSEA) of Melbourne on park use, health behavior, social engagement and psychological well-being. Amenities promoting physical activity and sun protection included walking paths, playground equipment and built shade. Outcomes were measured via systematic observations, and self-report surveys of park visitors over three years. The refurbishments significantly increased park use, while shade use increased only in parks with shade sails. A trend for increased social engagement was also detected. Findings infer improvement of quality, number and type of amenities in degraded parks can substantially increase park use in LSEA. Findings support provision of shade over well-designed playgrounds in future park refurbishments to enhance engagement and sun protection behavior. Further research should identify park amenities to increase physical activity.

Green Space Quality and Health: A Systematic Review

“…The follow-up time for longitudinal studies ranges from 2 to 18 years [ 56 ]. The quasi-experimental studies [ 55 , 57 , 87 ] had intervention and control groups selected in a non-random manner from two neighbourhoods with pre-determined green space qualities. The before-after study [ 22 ] was conducted among participants who participated in outdoor nature walks.…”

“…A natural experiment was conducted in disadvantaged suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, tracking psychological wellbeing of park visitors for 3 years after adding refurbishments (playground equipment, walking paths and shade) to selected parks. When compared to control parks, park refurbishments did not improve emotional states of park visitors [ 55 ]. Similarly, in the Netherlands, neighbourhoods that implemented interventions to increase accessibility and useability of green space did not see an improved general health compared to control neighbourhoods [ 57 ].…”

“…Most of this evidence focused on psychological wellbeing or quality of life using Likert-type rankings or the number of unwell days. Future studies on these aspects will benefit from using robust, validated questionnaires featured in other quality domains, such as MHI-5, PRS or PANAS [ 22 , 55 , 68 , 89 ]. Moreover, perceived safety of public spaces can be influenced by neighbourhood characteristics and social vulnerabilities, which need to be accounted for in future studies.…”

“…Innovative trial designs have been featured in this review, namely quasi-experimental studies using controlled parks or neighbourhoods [ 55 , 57 ]. In addition, controlled intervention design had been used in forest therapy trials, which allowed for robust pre-post measurements of cardiovascular outcomes such as blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen saturation [ 108 ].…”

Prevalence and Correlates of Observed Sun Protection Behaviors Across Different Public Outdoor Settings in Melbourne, Australia

“…In cooler temperate climates such as Melbourne, the use of deciduous trees for shade may be beneficial to make these areas attractive for use across the seasons (Parisi & Turnbull, 2014). Purpose-built shade offers an alternative to natural shade which is particularly useful in regions with poor soils and/or drought-prone regions (Buller et al, 2016; Dobbinson et al, 2020). SunSmart and state governments around Australia provide support for local governments to increase shade provision in public spaces (Department of Health and Human Services, 2020; Parisi & Turnbull, 2014; Stoneham et al, 2007; SunSmart, 2019).…”