Data underlying the master thesis: Urban Design for Physical Activity

In the entire European Region over 80% of the adolescents are not active enough (WHO, 2019b). Physical activity can be seen as an essential component of human health as it can contribute to reducing the risk at several diseases, such as diabetes, depression, and several types of cancer (World Health Organization, 2010, p.10). Physical activity behaviour is influenced by a high variety of variables, ranging from personal variables to the physical environment. The composition of public spaces can facilitate or hinder adolescent physical activity behaviour. Although a lot of research has been done already and studies increasingly included the physical environment, research shows inconsistencies regarding similar variables (e.g. Ding, Sallis, Kerr, Lee, & Rosenberg, 2011). This makes it difficult to apply the knowledge in urban design practice. The objective of this thesis is to explore the role of urban design in contributing to increase activity levels of adolescents using quantitative statistics. Literature review is used to identify attributes of (adolescent) physical activity behaviour. From this review spatial attributes are selected to research the preferences of adolescents to visit public spaces for physical activity. A choice based conjoint analysis (CBCA) is used to estimate the relative importance of ten spatial attributes for adolescent physical activity in outdoor public space. To illustrate how such statistical method can be used to inform urban design a square in Westland, the Netherlands is selected as a test case to transform. Westland showed to be the least green municipality, and adolescents in Westlands appeared less active than the Dutch average. The attributes that showed significantly important from the survey were used to analyse and transform an existing public space. Choice based conjoint analysis can be a valuable method to use in urban research and design, as one can identify user preferences before actually transforming the physical environment. However it is important to carefully define and use the attributes for the analysis, and to avoid misinterpretation as much as possible. Choice based conjoint analysis can identify what spatial attributes are important and with that an urban designer can show how these can be implemented in urban design.Before conducting the survey, an ethics application has been approved by the Human Resources Ethics Committee of Delft University of Technology.

整个欧洲区域内，超过80%的青少年身体活动量不足（世界卫生组织（World Health Organization，WHO），2019b）。身体活动可被视为人类健康的核心组成部分，有助于降低罹患多种疾病的风险，包括糖尿病、抑郁症及多种癌症（世界卫生组织，2010，第10页）。青少年的身体活动行为受诸多变量影响，范畴涵盖个体特质至物理环境等多个层面。公共空间的空间构成与布局，可对青少年的身体活动行为起到促进或制约作用。尽管已有大量相关研究，且此类研究愈发重视物理环境因素，但现有研究显示，针对同类变量的结论仍存在不一致之处（例如Ding、Sallis、Kerr、Lee与Rosenberg，2011），这使得相关研究成果难以应用于城市设计实践。本研究的核心目标为：通过量化统计方法，探究城市设计在提升青少年身体活动水平方面的作用。研究首先通过文献综述，梳理并明确青少年身体活动行为的相关影响属性；基于该综述，筛选出若干空间属性，用以探究青少年前往公共空间开展身体活动的偏好特征。本研究采用基于选择的联合分析（Choice Based Conjoint Analysis, CBCA），量化评估户外公共空间中影响青少年身体活动的10项空间属性的相对重要性。为阐明此类统计方法如何为城市设计提供决策依据，本研究选取荷兰韦斯特兰（Westland）的一处广场作为改造试点案例。韦斯特兰是荷兰绿化覆盖率最低的自治市，当地青少年的身体活动水平也低于荷兰平均水准。本研究将问卷调查中被证实具有显著影响力的空间属性，用于对一处现有公共空间的分析与改造设计。基于选择的联合分析（CBCA）可成为城市研究与设计领域的有效方法，因为其能够在实际改造物理环境前，精准识别使用者的偏好特征。但需注意，在分析过程中需谨慎定义并合理选用相关属性，尽可能避免出现解读偏差。基于选择的联合分析能够明确哪些空间属性具备影响力，进而帮助城市设计师规划此类属性在城市设计中的落地方式。在开展问卷调查前，本研究的伦理申请已获得代尔夫特理工大学（Delft University of Technology）人力资源伦理委员会的批准。