Satisfacción de la comunidad universitaria

Physical activity aimed at becoming and remaining healthy is a prominent leisure choice made by the women in this research. Healthy activity, and particularly physical activity in the outdoors, is perceived as an ideal way to maintain and improve health and well-being.

Physically active lifestyles have been found to have a profound influence on the physical

health and well-being of older adults (Dupuis & Alzheimer, 2008). Physical activity as a leisure choice for developing and maintaining health has emerged as a central theme of research on leisure and women (Henderson & Hickerson, 2007). This Boulevard Lake participant describes the importance of walking for maintaining both physical and mental health.

Physically, the walking strengthens you, it makes you healthier. Your breathing is good; you’re breathing that fresh air… Physically, it helps your body. I really think that mentally, I think it stimulates your brain. You feel good walking around the lake (Carol).

Physical activity as a leisure choice supports physical health. The participants in this study describe walking as an ideal health promoting activity. The walking path used by many of the women in Hagley Park and Boulevard Lake is a similar distance of 5 and 5.5 km.

respectively. Walking is portrayed as an activity that can be vigorous and challenging or relaxing and easy based on the needs of the individual at the time. As age related changes influence physical abilities, walking allows for continuity of activity while being responsive to limitations. The older women in this study are able to continue walking in the park while compensating and adapting to age-related changes by modifying the speed, distance and terrain of their walk, an example of Selective Optimization with Compensation (Baltes &

Baltes, 1990).

While the health enhancing aspects of walking are noted by most of the participants in this study, the setting for the walk is described as a vital contributor to the health promoting aspect of park use. The setting has been found to have an important influence on a walking

experience (Edensor, 2000). The health promoting influence of physical activity is enhanced by the nature rich park settings in this research. Several participants stated that while walking closer to home is more convenient and involves ‘exercise’, the health enhancing benefits of walking in the park provides greater benefit. The combined benefits of physical activity in a nature rich setting has been referred to as ‘green exercise’ (Pretty et al., 2005). Physical activity in a nature rich setting has been found to have a positive influence on reducing stress and improving physical and mental well-being (Pretty et al., 2003). The participants in this research portray the value of physical activity in a nature rich setting on their physical and mental well-being.

4.4.4 Influence of the setting

The nature rich urban parks in this research provide a venue for leisure through opportunities for experiencing a sense of freedom and choice, and as a setting for healthy activity. The influence of the parks on the occurrence and quality of leisure is associated with the nature rich characteristics and the design elements.

4.4.4.1 Being away: “You feel as if you’re going into a different place”

The parks enable the feeling of ‘being away’, which provides the participants with a sense of freedom from many of their sources of stress and obligation. This is described as ‘being away’ in restorative environment theory, which is characterized by the feeling of being immersed in an environment that is different from the usual and is often associated with nature rich settings (Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989). In Hagley Park, a small walking bridge over the Avon River from the car park is a frequently used entrance to the park (Figure 4.9). This bridge provides a physical and symbolic separation from the city. A Hagley Park participant states that crossing the bridge creates the sense that “you’re going into a different place”

(Margaret, Hagley Park). The bridge provides a physical boundary and ‘introduction’ to the park; in addition, the river flowing under the bridge represents the entrance to the park.

Figure 4-9: An introduction to the park, Hagley Park

This picture is of the river running through the park. Arriving on that bridge from the busyness of the city is very calming and I like the feeling of the water just flowing through taking you away from all the noise of the city. It is very calming and it’s a way of leading you into the park (Elisabeth, Hagley Park).

If you walk from the car park into the gardens so you have to go across the bridge, I think it’s a lovely introduction to the park (Wyn, Hagley Park).

At Boulevard Lake, while the sense of ‘being away’ is described by the participants, there does not appear to be a specific environmental feature contributing to this experience. The feeling of being away occurs at various times and locations for the Boulevard Lake

participants. For some, there is a sense of being away immediately upon arrival at the park, while for others, this sense develops through immersion in the setting.

4.4.4.2 Promoting health: “You’re breathing that fresh air”

The parks are perceived as ‘healthy environments’ because of their nature rich qualities, and because they facilitate healthy activity. The park environments, and particularly Hagley Park, are portrayed as healthier than the surrounding urban environment. This is associated

primarily with air quality and noise. The nature rich quality of the parks is also credited with positively influencing the occurrence of, and benefit from, physical activity. The aesthetic appeal of the parks provides an incentive for engaging in physical activity, and for enhancing the activity. The participants in this research are motivated to visit the park as a venue for walking and believe the benefits of walking are enhanced by the nature rich and healthy qualities of the parks.

As urban parks, the settings in this research have an influence on healthy activity associated with both natural characteristics and elements of park design and amenities. The parks are described as manageable and accessible environments that enable older women to participate in walking and other healthy activity. The parks are designed to facilitate physical activity, and particularly walking, for all ages and abilities.

4.4.5 Comparisons and summary

The parks in this research are valued as meaningful leisure venues. In contrast to research on the experience of younger women’s use of urban parks (Krenichyn, 2004), this research suggests that older women feel a sense of entitlement to leisure. Younger women have identified the primacy of caring for others as a determinant of their use and perceptions of urban parks and often experience conflict and guilt in response to attempts to meet their own needs (Krenichyn, 2004). In contrast, the experience of the older women in this research suggests that park use is perceived as an opportunity to care for themselves. The sense of entitlement to leisure is relevant to the concept of an ‘ethic of care’ (Gilligan, 1982). While the ethic of care continues to be extended to others, the participants describe a shift from a lifelong focus on the needs of others to a greater emphasis on their own needs.

The participants at both sites value the parks as leisure venues that allow for

self-determination and choice concerned with ‘what they do and with whom’. The ‘expanded’

concept of women’s leisure described by Wearing (1998) involves control over the people, objects, activities and thoughts that one chooses to include in leisure experiences. While the park is an important venue for reflection and introspection, most of the participants also value opportunities for social interaction.

The participants in this research chose activities and behaviours that will contribute to their health and well-being. Park-based leisure activity is aimed at maintaining and improving health. Walking, in particular, is the preferred park activity. Restful leisure, as a balance to physical activity, is more common at Hagley Park while at Boulevard Lake most of the participants engage primarily in physical activity. Boulevard Lake is a park for being active, due in part, to the colder climate.

The social and physical context of the parks supports meaningful leisure for the participants in this research. While there is variation in the settings, both physically and from a social and cultural perspective, the meaning of the parks as leisure venues is similar. The nature rich qualities and the design features of the parks contribute to a sense of spatial freedom, where they can ‘escape’ from worries and stress. The parks are also appealing and manageable settings that encourage and enable healthy activity. Also of value to the participants in this research is the enduring quality of the parks. The following section describes the meaning of the parks as venues that enable a connection with the past.