Citation

Coen SE, Ross NA. Health Place 2006; 12(4): 361-371.

Affiliation

Department of Geography, McGill University, 805 Sherbrooke St. West, Montréal, QC, Canada H3A 2K6.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.healthplace.2005.02.001

PMID

16814195

Abstract

The growing evidence of neighborhood influences on health points to the need for investigation of health-relevant features of local environments. This study examines one potentially health-enhancing neighborhood resource, urban parks, to test for systematic differences in material conditions between areas. Twenty-eight parks selected from six urban Montreal neighborhoods along a health status gradient are qualitatively assessed. While neighborhood parks showed a variety of feature quality ratings, those located in poor health areas displayed several pronounced material disadvantages, including concentration of physical incivilities, limited provision of facilities for physical exercise, and adjacency to industrial sites and multi-lane roads. Equalizing park quality between areas may be an important step for public health promotion.

Language: en