scholarly journals Urban Green Spaces As Promoters of Healthy Living: Evidence From Putrajaya, Malaysia

Author(s):  
Abdulrahman Saadu Danjaji ◽  
Mohammed Danladi ◽  
Abdullahi Adamu ◽  
Haruna Musa Danladi

Abstract Open spaces have a significant positive impact on the overall well-being of the residents of urban areas and the influence on the use of recreational facilities due to the extent of the residents' engagement with these infrastructures and active lifestyles. The effectiveness of using these spaces on the well-being of residents is on their relative quality, quantity, and accessibility. Putrajaya houses 350,000 residents; about 4,931 (37%) of the total landmass was designated as open space to have a balanced city. Four of the twenty open spaces were purposeful selected based on their respective quality and services for the harmonious development of Putrajaya. A convenient sampling technique (non-probability) determines the respondents in each designated open space. This research used the survey data collection method to collect the primary data, using a cross-sectional approach. Pearson product-moment correlation analysis was used to determine the extent and direction of the relationship between open space attributes and health promotion. And multiple regression analysis (entered method) was adopted to predict the health promotion' of residents who visited the provided open spaces based on their respective quality, quantity, and accessibility. The results reveal that the areas' sizes, existing facilities, and greenness are the predominant influencing incentives that attract patronage by both local and international users. Meanwhile, when designing open space to promote the health status of respective users, effort must be toward providing high aesthetic quality in sufficient quantity and size, as indicated in this study.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4372
Author(s):  
Abdullah Addas ◽  
Ahmad Maghrabi

Public open spaces services have been shown to be profoundly affected by rapid urbanization and environmental changes, and in turn, they have influenced socio-cultural relationships and human well-being. However, the impact of these changes on public open space services (POSS) remains unexplored, particularly in the Saudi Arabian context. This study examines the socio-cultural influence of POSS on the King Abdulaziz University campus, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and the impact of these services on well-being. A field survey and questionnaire were used to collect data. Non-parametric tests (Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney tests) were used to find significant differences in the importance of POSS as perceived by stakeholders based on socio-demographic attributes. Factor analysis was performed for 14 POSS to identify those that are most important. The study showed that (i) university stakeholders are closely linked to services provided by public open spaces (POS) and dependent on POSS, (ii) there were significant differences in the perceived importance of POSS according to gender, age, and social groups, and (iii) 70 to 90% of stakeholders reported POSS as having a positive impact on well-being. Thus, the findings will help design and plan POSS to meet the needs of society and promote well-being.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Krishna Prasad Timalsina

Increasing population and densification of the cities lead to increasing land value by the high demand of land for housing and other infrastructure developments are the reasons that tend to decreasing open spaces in Kathmandu Valley in general, and Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) in particular.  Urban open space has been considered as a place that is accessible to all residents and is important in the urban context as such space provides an opportunity as a place for social interaction, networking, recreation, and various physical health exercises. However, different social and economic contexts of the society reflect different patterns of its uses. Two different urban settings (core urban area having indigenous dominant population and fringe urban areas having migrants’ dominant population) have been taken as a basis for analysis in this paper to look at how different urban societies use open spaces differently. Open spaces are not only important for maintaining urban greenery and beauty but are valued for accumulating social capital and enhancing physical well-being to the urban communities. These issues are analyzed through the interpretative research methodology by collecting the data through in-depth interviews, key informants’ interviews, informal conversational interviews, and non-participatory observation from two different urban settings of KMC. 


Author(s):  
Fu-Ju Tsai ◽  
Cheng-Yu Chen ◽  
Gwo-Liang Yeh ◽  
Yih-Jin Hu ◽  
Chie-Chien Tseng ◽  
...  

Background: Nursing educators should train nursing students to pursue physical, psychological, spiritual, and social health promotion. The purpose of this study was to explore relationships between nursing students’ meaning of life, positive beliefs, and well-being. Methods: A cross-sectional correlational study with a quantitative approach was adopted. Purposive sampling was used. A total of 170 nursing students voluntarily participated in this study. A 56-item questionnaire was used to examine nursing students’ meaning of life (1-25 items), positive beliefs (1-11 items), and well-being (1-20 items). The content validity index (CVI) of the study questionnaire was established as 0.95 by seven expert scholars. The reliability values for the three parts of the measure were as follows: meaning of life, Cronbach’s α 0.96; positive beliefs, Cronbach’s α 0.93; and well-being, Cronbach’s α 0.95. Percentages, frequencies, means, SDs, Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance by rank, Spearman’s rank correlation, one-way analysis of variance, Spearman’s rho correlation, and regression analysis were used for the data analysis. Results: Nursing students had the following mean scores: meaning of life with 4.02 (SD 0.56); positive beliefs with 3.92 (SD 0.62); and well-being with 3.95 (SD 0.57). The results indicate that for all nursing students, meaning of life was positively correlated with positive beliefs, r=0.83 (P<.01); similarly, all nursing students had positive beliefs that were positively correlated with meaning of life, r=0.83 (P<.01). In the results of the study, the nursing students’ background, meaning of life and positive beliefs explained 63% of the variance in well-being (Adjusted R2 squared =0.63, F=33.41, P<.001). Conclusions: Nursing students’ sense of meaning of life and positive beliefs may impact their well-being. Therefore, nursing educators can promote meaning of life and positive beliefs to nursing students as a way to increase their well-being for physical, psychological, spiritual, and social health promotion.


Author(s):  
Ipseeta Satpathy ◽  
B. Chandra Mohan Patnaik ◽  
Chandrabhanu Das

The existence of Yoga dates back to more than ten thousand years around India and all nations. The Hindu Mythology considers the genesis of Yoga by incorporating Lord Shiva as Guru and Goddess Parvati as Shishya. Gradually with the development of civilization mankind assessed the benefits of this spiritual discipline and different leaders propagated the Yoga in different ways.In this era of 21st century Baba Ramdev propagated the yoga sutras with simple and effective techniques. The Pranayam and Suryanamaskar are the popular routines practiced by many followers of Baba Ramdev. Today Yoga is practiced as a way of Living to prevent Lifestyle diseases, combat stress and rejuvenate self. Yoga has gained immense popularity over the years with July 21st being celebrated as International Yoga Day. Corporate are also now introducing Yoga for employees as a means to relieve their stress and improve productivity. Long Hours of sitting, standing and excessive use of electronic gadgets puts pressure on bones, joints and responsible for Lifestyle diseases. Yoga is now increasingly used as a wellness solution replacing high cost antibiotic drugs. Employee well-being leads to Cost Savings in terms of personnel by reduced payment of Insurance and Medical Bills. The paper studies the Impact of Yoga to Financial benefits in MSME Organizations in Odisha in light of three different perspectives of Internal Control, Inventory management and Cash Flow. The primary data was collected from a sample of 155 high profile finance executives working in the MSME sector. Ranking Table and Regression Analysis Methodology was used to derive meaningful conclusions. The research takes initiative to transform the effectiveness of Yoga into improved financial health for the Organization. The observation from the study interprets a positive impact of Yoga on good financial health of Organization.


Author(s):  
Julia Rehling ◽  
Christiane Bunge ◽  
Julia Waldhauer ◽  
André Conrad

Public green spaces have a high potential for a positive impact on people’s health and wellbeing, especially in urban areas. Studies on environmental justice indicate socially unequal access possibilities to urban green spaces. This article presents results on associations between individual socioeconomic position (SEP) and walking time from home to public green spaces in young people living in urban areas with more than 20,000 inhabitants in Germany. Data were derived from the German Environmental Survey for Children and Adolescents 2014–2017 (GerES V), the environmental module of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS Wave 2). The sample comprises 1149 participants aged 3 to 17 years. A total of 51.5% of the participants reach a public green space on foot within five and 72.8% within ten minutes from home. The lower the participant’s SEP, the longer the walking time. Logistic regression models controlling for age group, sex, migration background, and region of residence show that participants with a low SEP have a significantly higher risk (odds ratio = 1.98; 95% confidence interval: 1.31–2.99) of needing more than ten minutes to walk from home to a public green space than participants with a high SEP. GerES V data indicate that young people living in urban areas in Germany do not equally benefit from the health-promoting potential of green spaces, which is an important aspect of environmental health inequalities.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zi Wang

Abstract The coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing lockdown affected social life in every regard. In critical times, the well-being of vulnerable groups is often at stake. Migrants represent a case in point because language barriers and the lack of social networks impede their seeking help from public institutions and information access. In migration policy and research, current attention overwhelmingly focusses on COVID-19’s impact on travel restrictions and healthcare. This article contributes a new perspective by demonstrating how migrants’ well-being needs (understood as emotions and sense of achievement) in education during the COVID-19-induced school closure were addressed by community educational organisations. Focussing on the Chinese community in Germany, data were collected in Chinese heritage language (CHL) schools from three urban areas. This article argues that CHL schools’ reaction to public schools’ closure had a positive impact on their members’ well-being. Such organisations achieved this by expanding their educational programmes during and after the lockdown. These measures ensured continuity in migrant children’s education beyond the realm of heritage language instruction, while enabling migrant parents to seek employment as the economy reopened. Overall, the results of this study underscore the potential of community organisations’ educational programmes in maintaining migrants’ well-being, especially in trying times.


The use of outdoor (open) spaces in public buildings is vast and has significant roles ranging from individual (users) perception of the development of urban centers and cities to the satisfaction of the various functions they perform. However, little research is available on the use of the outdoor spaces in these Public buildings environment and the activities that take place thereof. This study investigates the factors that take users of public buildings to the outdoor environment and the physical factors that constitute their uses within the spaces. Using both qualitative and quantitative research approach, the paper examined the importance of restructuring the outdoor spaces for quality of the surrounding of the built environment. The study adopts a purposive sampling where participants were selected based on the outdoor use only. A total of seventy (75) questionnaires were administered to the various users of public buildings within specific open spaces. Only seventy (70) representing (93.33%) of the total population were returned and subjected to data analysis using the relevant descriptive and inferential statistical techniques, Mean Weighted Score (MWS) and Relatively Important Index (R.I.I) were used to rank features obtained. The study concludes that proper restructuring of landscape elements is necessary within public buildings, in order to provide human comfort, well-being and improved productivity. It was recommended that revitalizing the environmental features of these public building necessitates the insufficiency of outdoor features in government own buildings. Therefore, the user’s satisfaction of this outdoor (open) space in public buildings should be key consideration and emphasized on right from planning and design stages to it implementation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Filzani Illia Ibrahim ◽  
Dasimah Omar ◽  
Nik Hanita Nik Mohamad

This paper aims to provide valuable insight of the various dimensions of human needs’ towards open spaces. This study employed a mixed method research design involving both quantitative and qualitative methods that were utilised to identify and evaluate the human-human interaction and human-nature interaction in the area of study. Primary data was gathered by using questionnaire survey that was administered to 861 respondents who were visitors to public parks. The finding of this study is intended to show the main domains that reflect human needs’ toward open spaces together with perceived benefits to the open space users.


Author(s):  
Vidya V. Patil ◽  
Rekha Udgiri

Background: Aging is a universal process. In India, the elderly account for 7.7% of the total population and the United Nations defines a country as “ageing” where the proportion of people over 60 years reaches 7.7%. Morbidity among elderly has an important influence on their physical functioning and psychological well-being. The objectives of the study were to assess the psychosocial problems associated with the elderly and to describe the chronic illness and utilization of welfare services among elderly.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in the urban field practice area of Shri B M Patil Medical College, Vijayapur. House to house survey was conducted for a period of 3 months from September to November 2014.Results: Total of 372 elders were interviewed, 54.5% were males, 45.4% were females. Majority were Hindus 78.8%. 46% were illiterate. Majority 79% were financially dependent. 53% were working. Around 32% were feeling lonely Most common chronic illness is joint pain (66.66%), visual problem (50%), dental and chewing problem (48%).Conclusions: Financial dependence was high among the participants and majorities were suffering from one or the other chronic illness which needs attention and knowledge about geriatric welfare services should be given. 


Author(s):  
F. Guzzetti ◽  
K. L. N. Anyabolu ◽  
L. D’Ambrosio ◽  
G. Marchetti

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> In urban areas, the “built” is defined by many different elements. Not only buildings but also open spaces containing green areas, viability, urban furniture, underground facilities. While the H-BIM sector focuses, rightly, on buildings of great historical significance, in our case it is been consider a part of the built that it usually not analyse: the urban open space. One of the interesting themes is the possibility of having a single tool that integrates the different objects present in a complex environment such as the urban area. The process with BIM model could allow a huge saving in terms of time and costs considering public tender, maintenance or construction phase of a project. Facility management operating through BIM is another relevant theme considering the whole life of a construction. Finally, another important theme is the connections between elements above the ground (visible elements) and subsoil (not visible elements), not only for the administrations but also if related to the HBIM environment.</p><p>The paper reports the analysis of the experience performed, particularly related to questions about detail and accuracy of the BIM model.</p><p>A methodology for modelling open spaces is been assuming, it is described possible improvements and considerations on the result.</p>


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