Transport and Environmental Variables and the Impact of Cultural Differences on Playground Use

This paper evaluates the transport and environmental variables affecting individual usage of playgrounds, with a focus on cultural differences. The paper was developed on the basis of a case study that 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 discovered concerning the impact of transport and environmental variables. All of these parameters were found to be more significant among the Jewish population, which seems to be more aware of these 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 with 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. The noise variable was found to adversely affect both the frequency of visits and self-satisfaction in both populations. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)UP.1943-5444.0000064. (C) 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.