Psychological park accessibility: a systematic literature review of perceptual components affecting park use

Abstract

Traditional park accessibility studies relying on physical distance have critical limitations, because proximity alone does not predict park use, and contemporary cities struggle with a land shortage for more parks. Efficient, integrated methods of analysing the psychological dimension to park accessibility are scarce. Thus, this study examines factors constituting psychological park accessibility and measurement methods through a systematic literature review. Findings from the review show that psychological park accessibility stems from the perception of distance, park quality and the neighbourhood environment, which could be measured either quantitatively or qualitatively. The proposed conceptual framework would provide researchers with stronger predictive measurement tools for analysing park accessibility and instead of constructing new parks, planners could devise more effective strategies to improve current park use.

Keywords:

• Park accessibility
• green space accessibility
• park use
• perception of accessibility