Relationship between visitor characteristics, physical activity levels and park environment in subtropical areas’ urban parks

Urban parks are of great significance improving the physical and mental health of residents. However, there is still a lack of systematic discussion of the relationship between visitor characteristics, physical activity (PA) levels, and urban park environments, especially within subtropical areas of Asia. We took 12 urban parks in Guangzhou, China as the research objects, comprehensively used BRAT and SOPARC to observe the microenvironment and visitors’ PA in the urban parks, and supplemented the research with interviews. The results of the study revealed that: (1) The urban parks in Guangzhou cannot fully encourage visitors to engage in high PA levels, and due to the temperature of subtropical areas most visitors chose medium and high PA levels in the morning. (2) Leisure preferences and environment features determined that females tended to engage in medium and high PA levels more than males. Minors preferred high PA levels, while other age groups preferred low PA levels. (3) All groups attached great importance to rest facilities and shade. Among them, the youth paied more attention to the quality of the landscape and the middle-aged were attracted by the scent. (4) Low PA levels were affected largely by the site elements and high PA levels were greatly affected by varying terrains and shade. (5) Areas that including recreation and sport facilities had the highest concentration of medium and high PA levels; however, were insufficient to meet the needs of multiple age groups. Finally, we made recommendations to improve the PA levels of visitors in subtropical areas and gave advice concerning more humanized park planning.