Outdoor Public Space Activities Characteristics of Children and Their Inter-generational Parents and Design Strategies from the health perspective: a case study in Harbin, China

Abstract With the rapid urbanization of China and the establishment of the new family structure of “four-two-one” (four grandparents-two parents-one child), taking care of children by their grandparents has become one of the most important forms in the current Chinese urban families. Currently, 41.43% of the old in the city of China raise and take care of their grandchildren, and the proportion shows an increasing trend annually. At meantime, the statistic shows that the main groups exercising in the public area during the working days are the children and their inter-generational parents (as ‘the Group’ in the following). Due to the preschooler’s special feature of needing accompany in their amusements, the preschoolers and their inter-generational parents have been the second major users of outdoor public space (OPS) in the cities of China following the older groups. As the main place where the daily life and leisure activities of the Group happen, the environment quality of the urban public and OPS has direct impact on the physical and mental health of the Group. To design and build a appropriate OPS, it is necessary to make a deep understanding on the psychology and behavior demand of the children and their inter-generational parents. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Methods This study is carried out by taking the questionnaire as the main method and combining the field research with interview. The questionnaire consists of two parts, network questionnaire and onsite questionnaire. 515 copies of effective questionnaire are received. This study designs a survey questionnaire base on socio-ecological models for the Group by taking three factors into consideration, which are individuals, families and society, material environment and ecological environment. Based on the survey result, information of the Group, such as overall distribution, health status, activity characteristics, space use restrictions, and preference of the OPS was collected. Results The result of this specific study shows that: (i) The Group is mainly distributed in four spaces, park green lands, squares, community activity place and spontaneous activity space. The function of different OPS has many differences with each other. (ii) The proportion of the grandparents who take care of their grandchildren is pretty high in the old who live in the local city and have a good economic condition. At the same time, the result of emotion self-assessment of the grandparents who are engaged in taking care of children properly is more satisfying. (iii) In terms of the use condition of OPS, the activity type of the Group is much concentrated. The activity frequency of the group is related to the walking distance and the duration of activity is related to the fatigue state of grandparents. (iv) The security of space is the main factor restraining the development of activities. The lack of social communication is the main factor causing the low participation of activities. And the bad condition of microclimate environment will also decline outside activity participation degree greatly. Value This paper makes a deep investigation and research on the urban OPS, mainly focusing on the connection between OPS, space comfort, facilities arrangement, the social attribute of the Group and healthy activities. Research limitations The activity feature of the Group in the urban OPS can be influenced by other factors, such as the urban integral economy level, traffic condition, population and social economy science. More detailed problems still require further study.