Water parks are a rapidly growing element of the United States tourist industry. To reduce incidence of abrasion and impact injuries in such parks, designers are searching for padding materials that can withstand the harsh oxidative environments of chlorinated water. Although padded features help reduce physical injuries, they may also compromise the microbiological safety of water attractions....

This study summarizes more than a decade of research on how well neighborhood parks in Los Angeles support physical activity. Between 2003 and 2015, researchers at the RAND Corporation studied 83 parks in the city of Los Angeles, conducting thousands of observations and fielding nearly 28,000 surveys of park users and local residents. About half of all residents said that they used their neighb...

All those who have had the opportunity to enter Yellowstone National Park through its north entrance have been met with the unmistakable Roosevelt Arch. Its message represents to all visitors a critical mandate of the national park system: “For the benefit and enjoyment of the people.” However, this is not the only imperative for the national park system and its managers. The 1916 Organic Act a...

When exercising in a town or city, make use of parks, public spaces and trails with low emission zones as much as possible. A growing amount of research is showing that greenspaces contribute to our health and wellbeing.

Public space – which comprises streets and sidewalks, parks and plazas – is one of the justly celebrated aspects of cities. If cities are rich arenas of social diversity and crucibles of civic participation, it is their public spaces which facilitate the coming together of diverse populations since there is ‘a presumption that within these spaces we will, necessarily, encounter “others” in all ...

The economic vitality of many communities has declined as a result of changes in their economic structures. In some places, economic growth is being fostered by the inmigration of retirees. This exploratory study investigated the importance of public recreation services and parks in retirees’ choice of community, using a random sample of retired persons who had moved to South Carolina in the pa...

BACKGROUND Reliable and comprehensive measurement of physical activity settings is needed to examine environment-behavior relations. METHODS Surveyed park professionals (n = 34) and users (n = 29) identified park and playground elements (e.g., trail) and qualities (e.g., condition). Responses guided observational instrument development for environmental assessment of public recreation spaces ...