The Neighbourhood Park Preferences and its Factors among Elderly Residents in Tokiwadaira, Japan

Abstract

Tokiwadaira is one of the districts most populated by the elderly in Japan. This study compared the preferences of danchi and apartment residents to examine the neighbourhood park preferences as well as factors in park preferences. This research was conducted in three stages, including a spatial preference survey, analysis, and interpretation. Welch’s t-test and factor analysis were applied. Results demonstrated three significant differences between danchi and apartment residents, namely park preference, length of visit, and park elements. There were seven factors of park preferences. These results may help urban planners optimise existing features of neighbourhood parks to encourage use.Keywords: landscape preference; neighbourhood park; urban green space; green space management experience; exposure towards green spaceeISSN 2398-4295 © 2019. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21834/ajbes.v4i16.178