In an attempt to enhance democratic governance, sustainable development goals (SDG), and Local Agenda 21 (LA21), the notion of public participation exercise (PPE) presents a range possibilities. The PPE is observed as method solving constraints faced by parks in Malaysia, which general suffer from two main challenges, namely (i) underutilisation issue (ii) weakness present top-down policy. Cons...

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 Neighborhood parks play an important role in promoting physical activity. We examined the effect of activity area, condition, and presence of supporting features on number of park users and park-based physical activity levels. METHODS 37 parks and 154 activity areas within parks were assessed during summer 2008 for their features and park-based physical activity. Outcomes included ...

Soil microbes play a key role in controlling ecosystem functions and providing ecosystem services. Yet, microbial communities in urban green space soils remain poorly characterized. Here we compared soil microbial communities in 41 urban parks of (i) divergent plant functional types (evergreen trees, deciduous trees and lawn) and (ii) different ages (constructed 10, ∼50 and >100 years ago). The...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between adolescents' physical activity practice and their perception about the environment of urban parks. METHODS A school-based representative sample (n = 1,718; boys = 40.4%) of teenagers of Curitiba, Southern region of Brazil. A questionnaire was employed to identify perceived parks environmental features as well as phys...

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 ...

Outdoor places, such as parks, remain a source of secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure. We assessed attitudes toward smoke-free parks among U.S. adults. Data came from the 2009-2010 National Adult Tobacco Survey, a landline and cellular telephone survey of noninstitutionalized adults aged ≥18 in the 50 U.S. states and D.C. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were used to assess the preval...

Urban parks are green areas of cities where families and children spend hours outside. Turtles often inhabit urban parks. However, even if the animals seem harmless, they may serve as both reservoirs or accidental hosts for different serotypes of Leptospira spp. Leptospira spp. is a waterborne zoonotic bacterium relevant for public health. Reptiles and amphibians may play a role in the epidemio...

background: avian influenza (ai) viruses have been isolated from a wide diversity of free-living avian species representing several orders. since 1998, h9n2 ai outbreaks have been one of the major problems in iranian poultry industry. in 2006, h5n1 was reported in swans in the north of iran first , but until now there has been no official report from commercial flocks in iran. objectives: the a...