Level design
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Effects of biophilic indoor environment on stress and anxiety recovery: A between-subjects experiment in virtual reality Open
Previous research has demonstrated the positive associations between outdoor nature contact and stress reduction. However, similar effects of incorporating natural elements into indoor environment (i.e. biophilic design) have been less wel…
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Built Environment, Selected Risk Factors and Major Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes: A Systematic Review Open
This study confirms the relationship between neighborhood environment attributes and CVDs and risk factors. Prevention programs should account for neighborhood environmental attributes in the communities where people live.
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Built Environment, Physical Activity, and Obesity: Findings from the International Physical Activity and Environment Network (IPEN) Adult Study Open
Creating more physical activity–supportive built environments is recommended by the World Health Organization for controlling noncommunicable diseases. The IPEN (International Physical Activity and Environment Network) Adult Study was unde…
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Associations between neighbourhood walkability and daily steps in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis Open
The results of European and Asian studies support the hypothesis that higher neighbourhood walkability is associated with higher levels of biosensor-assessed walking in adults. More studies on this association are needed in North America.
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Game Factors and Game-Based Learning Design Model Open
How to design useful digital game-based learning is a topic worthy of discussion. Past research focused on specific game genres design, but it is difficult to use when the target game genre differs from the default genres used in the resea…
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Neighbourhood Built Environment Influences on Physical Activity among Adults: A Systematized Review of Qualitative Evidence Open
Qualitative studies can provide important information about how and why the built environment impacts physical activity decision-making—information that is important for informing local urban policies. We undertook a systematized literatur…
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Change in time spent visiting and experiences of green space following restrictions on movement during the COVID-19 pandemic: a nationally representative cross-sectional study of UK adults Open
Objectives Green space positively influences health and well-being; however, inequalities in use of green space are prevalent. Movement restrictions enforced due to the COVID-19 pandemic could have exacerbated existing inequalities regardi…
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Is Your Neighborhood Designed to Support Physical Activity? A Brief Streetscape Audit Tool Open
The MAPS-Mini environment measure is short enough to be practical for use by community groups and planning agencies and is a valid substitute for the full version that is 8 times longer.
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Impact of the Built Environment and the Neighborhood in Promoting the Physical Activity and the Healthy Aging in Older People: An Umbrella Review Open
(1) Background: The aim of this study is to establish which specific elements of the built environment can contribute to improving the physical activity of self-sufficient, noninstitutionalized and living in the city adults > 65 years. (2)…
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Associations between the physical environment and park-based physical activity: A systematic review Open
It can be concluded that paths/trails, lighting, and incivilities are 3 key physical environmental attributes of park-based PA. Given the inconsistent findings on park and neighborhood environmental factors, more robust designs such as pro…
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Physical Activity in Older Adults: an Ecological Approach Open
Correlates of older adults' PA were found at all ecological levels, supporting multiple levels of influence and need for multilevel interventions. Environmental correlates varied by PA outcome. Walking for errands exhibited the most enviro…
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Comparing the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index with the Google Street View Measure of Vegetation to Assess Associations between Greenness, Walkability, Recreational Physical Activity, and Health in Ottawa, Canada Open
The manner in which features of the built environment, such as walkability and greenness, impact participation in recreational activities and health are complex. We analyzed survey data provided by 282 Ottawa adults in 2016. The survey col…
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Outdoor thermal comfort for pedestrians in movement: thermal walks in complex urban morphology Open
In the discussion of designing for a healthier city, people in movement between interconnected spaces perform a non-sedentary activity enhancing sustainability and well-being. However, adverse weather conditions may create uncomfortable th…
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Determining thresholds for spatial urban design and transport features that support walking to create healthy and sustainable cities: findings from the IPEN Adult study Open
An essential characteristic of a healthy and sustainable city is a physically active population. Effective policies for healthy and sustainable cities require evidence-informed quantitative targets. We aimed to identify the minimum thresho…
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How Is the Neighborhood Environment Related to the Health of Seniors Living in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo? Some Insights for Promoting Aging in Place Open
Aging in place can be a challenge for seniors living in cities, where the infrastructure and associated services are typically designed for the working population to enhance efficiency and productivity.Through surveying community-dwelling …
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Neighborhood characteristics associated with park use and park-based physical activity among children in low-income diverse neighborhoods in New York City Open
Urban parks provide spaces and facilities for children's physical activity (PA) and can be a free resource in low-income communities. This study examined whether neighborhood characteristics were associated with children's park use and par…
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The Association of Urban Greenness and Walking Behavior: Using Google Street View and Deep Learning Techniques to Estimate Residents’ Exposure to Urban Greenness Open
Many studies have established that urban greenness is associated with better health outcomes. Yet most studies assess urban greenness with overhead-view measures, such as park area or tree count, which often differs from the amount of gree…
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Designing healthy communities: Testing the walkability model Open
Research from multiple domains has provided insights into how neighborhood design can be improved to have a more favorable effect on physical activity, a concept known as walkability. The relevant research findings/hypotheses have been int…
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Associations between Green Space and Health in English Cities: An Ecological, Cross-Sectional Study Open
Green space has been identified as a modifiable feature of the urban environment and associations with physiological and psychological health have been reported at the local level. This study aims to assess whether these associations betwe…
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How important is perception of safety to park use? A four-city survey Open
Our purpose was to determine the relative importance of individual- and park-related characteristics in influencing both local park use and specific engagement in active sports, walking and sedentary pursuits. We surveyed 3815 adults livin…
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Greenery in the university environment: Students’ preferences and perceived restoration likelihood Open
A large body of evidence shows that interaction with greenery can be beneficial for human stress reduction, emotional states, and improved cognitive function. It can, therefore, be expected that university students might benefit from green…
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GPS-based activity space exposure to greenness and walkability is associated with increased accelerometer-based physical activity Open
This study contributes evidence that higher levels of physical activity occur in environments with more dense, diverse, and well-connected built environments, and with higher amounts of vegetation. These data suggest that urban planners, l…
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A Longitudinal Analysis of the Influence of the Neighborhood Environment on Recreational Walking within the Neighborhood: Results from RESIDE Open
Our findings provide urban planners and policy makers with stronger causal evidence of the positive impact of well-connected neighborhoods and access to local parks of varying sizes on local residents' recreational walking and health. http…
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Disentangling residential self-selection from impacts of built environment characteristics on travel behaviors for older adults Open
In the context of population ageing in many developed and developing countries, encouraging active transport behaviors of older adults, is a key public health priority. However, many cross-sectional studies assessing the impact of built en…
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How did outdoor biking and walking change during COVID-19?: A case study of three U.S. cities Open
A growing body of literature suggests that restrictive public health measures implemented to control COVID-19 have had negative impacts on physical activity. We examined how Stay Home orders in Houston, New York City, and Seattle impacted …
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The VGLC: The Video Game Level Corpus Open
Levels are a key component of many different video games, and a large body of work has been produced on how to procedurally generate game levels. Recently, Machine Learning techniques have been applied to video game level generation toward…
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Associations between BMI and home, school and route environmental exposures estimated using GPS and GIS: do we see evidence of selective daily mobility bias in children? Open
This study found few associations between environmental exposures in home, school and commuting domains and body weight in children. However, walkability of the school neighbourhood may be important. Of the other significant associations o…
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Physical Activity and Outdoor Play of Children in Public Playgrounds—Do Gender and Social Environment Matter? Open
Background: Few studies have delved into the relationship of the social environment with children’s physical activity and outdoor play in public playgrounds by considering gender differences. The aim of the present study was to examine gen…
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How do different types and characteristics of green space impact mental health? A scoping review Open
Green space matters for mental health but is under constant pressure in an increasingly urbanising world. Often there is little space available in cities for green areas, so it is vital to optimise the design and usage of these available g…
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Neighborhood Design, Physical Activity, and Wellbeing: Applying the Walkability Model Open
Neighborhood design affects lifestyle physical activity, and ultimately human wellbeing. There are, however, a limited number of studies that examine neighborhood design types. In this research, we examine four types of neighborhood design…