Fanāvarī-i āmūzish (Sep 2006)
Perceptual-behavioral impact of neighborhood open spaces on student health
Abstract
Open urban spaces and contemporary urban neighborhoods are not compatible with the physical and mental characteristics of Iranian male and female students. The per capita restriction of educational spaces in schools threatens the quantitative and qualitative limitation of contemporary residential homes and the prevalence of students' environmental lifestyle machine health patterns. Symptoms such as students' high dependence on horseback riding from home to school, construction of schools without desirable open spaces, expansion of apartment living and housing at least without yard and desirable open spaces, continuous TV viewing, excessive computer use, nutrition patterns Unhealthy and the prevalence of phenomena such as overweight and obesity, social avoidance and depression of some students are a confirmation of the problem of students' environmental health.In such a situation, improving urban environments and redeveloped spaces can be effective in changing some unhealthy patterns of students' perceptions and behaviors. The present article tries to introduce some of the planning and environmental design capabilities of residential neighborhoods compatible with the growth and physical and mental health of children and adolescents.Planning and designing pedestrian and bicycle paths from home to school, proper location and design of social schools, planning and design of access networks and connected local sidewalks, planning and design to prevent crime in the neighborhood, traffic calming And expanding neighborhood safety and tranquility, improving and developing neighborhood and neighborhood parks, designing beautiful local streets with environmental design and furniture and natural landscapes and rows of street trees, expanding mixed and diverse local uses and controlling average residential density to In order to increase the access to the services required by students and the socio-local interaction of students, practical solutions are suggested.Also, the development of specialized interdisciplinary research by programmers and environmental and transportation designers with students' general growth and health specialists is one of the proposed research fields.
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