COMMUNITY ACTIVITY ENVIRONMENT
ENACT STRATEGY: Active Play & Recreation
Maintain and develop programming and facilities (including park programs) for active play and recreation
Children and adults alike benefit from programs and facilities that promote active play and recreation. Parks, recreation facilities (e.g., playgrounds, sports areas, and public pools), and open space provide people with a place where they can engage in active play such as sports, leisurely strolls, or bicycle rides along trails and greenways. Outdoor play, particularly among children, is associated with higher levels of physical activity. Playgrounds provide an outdoor environment where children can actively engage in physical activity and participate in more informal, unstructured play experiences. There is strong evidence supporting creation and/or enhancement of places for physical activity as an effective intervention for increasing physical activity levels [1]. In addition to the availability, the success of a parks and recreation facility depends on its vitality (i.e., the number of users and the social capital associated with the park among community members).
Characteristics of communities programmed for active play and recreation:
Community support for these activities is of great importance and can include:
- Maintaining and improving recreational facilities, including parks and playgrounds to address safety issues and aesthetics
- Partnering with local school districts to share recreational facilities on school grounds after hours
- Extending the hours of publicly owned facilities on evenings and weekends to increase access
- Funding programs that provide classes and organize sports teams reflecting a variety of activity options for children, youth, and adults
- Sliding scale for publicly financed or private facilities that require an entry fee
Lockwood Elementary School Playground
Lockwood Elementary suffers from severe overcrowding and is in one of the most park deficient districts in Oakland, CA. The completion of the playground renovation provided more than 900 students ages 5 through 11 with a safe, stimulating place to play.
Peaceful Playgrounds
Developed as a practical tool kit for making playgrounds safer and more activity-friendly, the materials available from Peaceful Playgrounds describe ways to layout playgrounds to encourage safety and active play.
The National Program for Playground Safety
With a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The National Program for Playground Safety works to reduce and prevent playground injuries. The playground safety report card is one tool that school personnel can use to assess playground safety to evaluate whether or not the playground is safe for play.
Agriculture and Open Space Preservation
Voters approved this proposition in Sonoma County which raises funds for agricultural land preservation and open space acquisition by imposing a 0.25 percent sales tax. Residents are rewarded with abundant open space nearby for active recreation.
Parks and Recreational Sidewalks Utility Tax Fund
This ordinance in Olympia, WA increased the utility tax by 3% for the purpose of acquiring and making improvements to parks, playgrounds, open space, and sidewalks to promote active recreation and safe walking.
Joint Use Agreement and Covenant
Santa Ana Unified School District and the City of Santa Ana entered into a Joint Use of Property agreement to make high school facilities available for community and city purposes after school hours.
in the ENACT Local Policy Database
The Parks for the People project "works with community leaders across the nation to secure funding, acquire parklands, and ensure that parks match the character and needs of the community."
"The Trust for Public Land (TPL) conducts research to acquire knowledge about conservation issues and to improve conservation practices. TPL shares these findings to create public support for conservation and encourage proconservation public policy."
As part of its Parks for People initiative, TPL has published a white paper that outlines how desperate the need is for city parks—especially in inner-city neighborhoods and describes the social, environmental, economic, and health benefits parks bring to a city and its people.
Neighborhood Parks Associated With More Physical Activity In Adolescent Girls**
The RAND corporation study found that people living in close proximity to outdoor parks are more likely to use these facilities for physical activity than those who do not live near outdoor recreation areas. Parks that feature structured activities, such as sporting events or walking groups, attract more users than other parks. The RAND Health study is the first systematic evaluation ever done of public parks and was conducted as part of a larger project examining the impact that neighborhoods have on health. Read the RAND press release (PDF).
Cohen et al. Park Use and Physical Activity in a Sample of Public Parks in the City of Los Angeles. RAND Technical Report, February 2006.
Kids take walks, if parks, stores nearby** (PDF)
This study looked at data collected from a large study of land use and travel patterns called SMARTRAQ in the metro Atlanta area, and found that young people are more likely to walk if they live within a half-mile of a park or a store. Read the newspaper article (PDF) describing the study.
Frank, L., Kerr, J., Chapman, J. and Sallis, J. Urban Form Relationships with Walk Trip Frequency and Distance Among Youth. American Journal of Health Promotion. 2007 March/April; 21 (14), Supplement: 305.
** We can only provide links to the study abstracts and not the full text.
Reference from the Intro
[1] EB Kahn, LT Ramsey, RC Brownson, GW Heath, et al. The Effectiveness of Interventions to Increase Physical Activity A Systematic Review. Available at: http://www.thecommunityguide.org/pa/pa-ajpm-evrev.pdf Accessed August 8, 2008.