The Effect of High-Density Built Environments on Elderly Individuals’ Physical Health: A Cross-Sectional Study in Guangzhou, China

Abstract

The built environment refers to the objective material environment built by humans in cities for living and production activities. Existing studies have proven that the built environment plays a significant role in human health, but little attention is paid to the elderly in this regard. At the same time, existing studies are mainly concentrated in Western developed countries, and there are few empirical studies in developing countries such as China. Based on POI (point of interest) data and 882 questionnaires collected from 20 neighborhoods in Guangzhou, we employ multilevel linear regression modeling, mediating effect modeling, to explore the path and mechanism of the impact of the built environment on elderly individuals’ physical health, especially the mediating effects of physical and social interaction activity. The results show that the number of POIs, the distance to the nearest park and square, and the number of parks and squares are significantly positively correlated with the physical health of the elderly, while the number of bus and subway stations and the distance to the nearest station are significantly negatively correlated. Secondly, physical activity and social networks play a separate role in mediating the effect of the built environment on elderly individuals’ physical health. The results enrich the research on the built environment and elderly individuals’ health in the context of high-density cities in China and provide some reference basis for actively promoting spatial intervention and cultivating a healthy aging society.

The Relationship Between Built Environment and Mental Health of Older Adults: Mediating Effects of Perceptions of Community Cohesion and Community Safety and the Moderating Effect of Income

“…They can identify differences between groups (communities) or within groups (individuals) and can explain the multi-factor mechanism of health (67). Therefore, they are widely used in existing studies about residents' health (53,58,68). The full models were specified as follows:…”

“…The older adults spent more time in the community after retirement and were the most affected by the built environment around the community (60). At the same time, considering the average walking speed of the older adults, the built environment of the community selected in this study was a 1-km buffer zone defined by the location of the community committee (53). In the existing studies, the measurement of the built environment was mostly based on the "5D" proposed by Ewing and Cervero (61), that is, density, diversity, design, accessibility, and distance to destination.…”

“…In the existing studies, the measurement of the built environment was mostly based on the "5D" proposed by Ewing and Cervero (61), that is, density, diversity, design, accessibility, and distance to destination. Considering the previous findings (22,53,62) and the availability of data, we selected "4D" (density, diversity, accessibility, and distance to destination) from "5D" to measure the built environment of a community in this study (Table 2), which could be obtained from the seventh national population census in China and POI data from Baidu.…”

“…As one of the megacities of China, Guangzhou is representative of the high-density urban context. Its permanent population has been increasing substantially, and the population is rapidly aging (53). Therefore, the impact of the built environment in Guangzhou on older adults may differ from that seen in developed countries that have low population densities.…”

Parameters of the Infrastructure of the Residential Area and Their Relationship with Cardiovascular Risk Factors

“…Так, в исследовании R. Zhang (2021 г.) было показано, что наличие интересных мест в инфраструктуре, близкое расположение парков или скверов, а также их количество положительно коррелировали со здоровьем жителей [18].…”