Article
Using systematic observations to understand conditions that promote interracial experiences in neighbourhood parks
Urban Planning
(2016)
Abstract
We analysed observations from 31 neighbourhood parks, with each park mapped into smaller target areas for study, across five US cities generated using the System for Observing Play and Recreation in the Community (SOPARC). In areas where at least two people were observed, less than one-third (31.6%) were populated with at least one white and one non-white person. Park areas that were supervised, had one or more people engaged in vigorous activity, had at least one male and one female present, and had one or more teens present were significantly more likely to involve interracial groups (p < 0.01 for each association). Observations in parks located in interracial neighbourhoods were also more likely to involve interracial groups (p < 0.05). Neighbourhood poverty rate had a significant and negative relationship with the presence of interracial groups, particularly in neighbourhoods that are predominantly non-white. Additional research is needed to confirm the impact of these interactions. Urban planning and public health practitioners should consider the health benefits of interracial contact in the design and programming of neighbourhood parks.
Keywords
- Intergroup Contact Theory,
- interracial contact,
- parks and recreation,
- SOPARC,
- urban parks
Disciplines
Publication Date
2016
DOI
10.17645/up.v1i4.756
Publisher Statement
This article is part of the issue “Paradigm Shifts in Urban Planning”, edited by Matthias Drilling (University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Switzerland), Efrat Eizenberg (Israel Institute of Technology, Israel), Janet Stanley (University of Melbourne, Australia), Lee Boon Thong (Nilai University, Malaysia) and Andreas Wesener (Lincoln University Canterbury, New Zealand).
© 2016 by the authors; licensee Cogitatio (Lisbon, Portugal). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY).
See more issues of Urban Planning.
Citation Information
Amy Hillier, Bing Han, Theodore S. Eisenman, Kelly R. Evenson, et al.. "Using systematic observations to understand conditions that promote interracial experiences in neighbourhood parks" Urban Planning Vol. 1 Iss. 4 (2016) p. 51 - 64 ISSN: 2183–7635 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/theodore-eisenman2/23/
Creative Commons license
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC_BY International License.