Park design and children's active play: a microscale spatial analysis of intensity of play in Olmsted's Delaware Park

This paper offers a microscale exploration of the role of park design on the intensity of physical activity among youth. The actual, unstructured use of a park-specifically, Delaware Park, an Olmsted-designed park in Buffalo, New York-by ninety-four children was observed and analyzed objectively using geographic information systems, global positioning systems, and accelerometers. Data were analyzed at the scale of 25 ft x 25 ft cells overlaid as a grid on the entire park. Results from the regression analysis show that particular features of parks-especially complexity in landscape surfaces, proximity to sport facilities and playgrounds, and the availability of pedestrian trails-enable greater intensity of youth physical activity in a park.