Development and Validation of the Mexican Public Open Spaces Tool (MexPOS)

Catalina Medina, Annel Hernández, Maria E. Hermosillo-Gallardo, Célida I. Gómez Gámez, Eugen Resendiz, Maricruz Morales, Claudia Nieto, Mildred Moreno and Simón Barquera
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Catalina Medina: Centro de Investigación en Nutrición y Salud, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca 62100, Mexico
Annel Hernández: Centro de Investigación en Nutrición y Salud, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca 62100, Mexico
Maria E. Hermosillo-Gallardo: Centro de Investigación en Nutrición y Salud, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca 62100, Mexico
Célida I. Gómez Gámez: Departamento de Arquitectura, Urbanismo e Ingeniería Civil, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City 01219, Mexico
Eugen Resendiz: Prevention Research Center, Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
Maricruz Morales: Centro de Investigación en Nutrición y Salud, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca 62100, Mexico
Claudia Nieto: Centro de Investigación en Nutrición y Salud, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca 62100, Mexico
Mildred Moreno: Escuela de Ingeniería y Arquitectura (ESIA), Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN), Mexico City 07340, Mexico
Simón Barquera: Centro de Investigación en Nutrición y Salud, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca 62100, Mexico

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 13, 1-11

Abstract: Public open spaces (POS) are “publicly owned spaces such as parks, green areas, squares, marketplaces, streets and highways which are of public access”. Some attributes could increase or decrease participants’ attendance. Thus, reliable and valid audit tools are needed in order to measure these attributes. This study aimed to develop and validate a tool to assess POS features within the Mexico City context. The Mexican Public Open Spaces Tool (MexPOS) was developed based on (1) two validated POS audit tools, (2) several visits to the POS, (3) pilot testing, and (4) multiple work sessions with a group of specialists. The original tool included 181 items divided into nine sections. Trained personnel visited and evaluated 944 POS in Mexico City. An exploratory factor analysis was performed to examine the construct validity of the items and the relationship between the subscales. The final model resulted in seven factors: (1) Food and Wellness Environment (α = 0.15), (2) Maintenance (α = 0.81), (3) Amenities (α = 0.72), (4) Legibility (α = 0.59), (5) Security (α = 0.48), (6) Perceived Environment (α = 0.65), and (7) Urban Environment (α = 0.58). Our study highlights the relevance of using a validated tool to measure POS characteristics related to participants’ attendance to help assess infrastructure improvements and identify priority areas for changing socio-urban environments for physical activity.

Keywords: public open spaces; features; validity; tool; Mexico (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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