Evaluating Transport and Environmental Variables Affecting Playground Usage and the Impact of Cultural Differences

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the transport and environmental variables affecting individual usage of playgrounds, with a focus on cultural differences. The paper is based on a survey, which was carried out in Haifa, the third largest city in Israel. The results indicate significant differences between Jewish and Arab populations regarding frequency of playground visits and the extent of playground satisfaction. Differences were also obtained concerning the impact of transport and environmental variables. All of these parameters were found to be more significant among the Jewish population, as this population seems to be more aware of these Evaluating transport and environmental variables affecting playground usage and the impact of cultural differences: A case study in Israel ALBERT, Gila; ABO-KALLA, Hala; BARON, Mira 12 th WCTR, July 11-15, 2010 – Lisbon, Portugal 2 variables. An analysis of the transport variables shows that the Jewish population considers factors such as playground accessibility, distance to other activities, trip chaining, and parking availability as significantly more essential, compared to the Arab population. The perceived air pollution variable was found to negatively affect frequency of playground visits (only among the Jewish community), as well as the self-satisfaction variable among both communities. Noise was found to adversely affect both the frequency of visits and self-satisfaction in both populations.