A Study on the Public Perception of Sports Spaces Under Urban Overpasses from the Perspective of Age Differences

Ziyi Wen, Xiangming Luo, Xin Wang () and Haoran Liu
Additional contact information
Ziyi Wen: School of Civil Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250001, China
Xiangming Luo: School of Civil Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250001, China
Xin Wang: School of Civil Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250001, China
Haoran Liu: School of Civil Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250001, China

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 2, 1-31

Abstract: As China’s urban development enters the era of stock optimization, the practice of transforming and utilizing spaces under urban overpasses is rapidly gaining momentum. Converting these underpass spaces into sports areas has emerged as a new form of creating public space. Understanding the perceptions of users from different age groups towards these underpass spaces holds significant guiding value for optimizing the design of such areas and improving the quality of service. Taking the Yanshan Interchange Lowline Park in Jinan as an example, this research applied methods of observation, interviews, questionnaires, and importance–satisfaction analysis (ISA) to investigate the activity preferences and the similarities and differences in the perceptions of spatial environment elements in underpass spaces among four age groups: children, youth, middle-aged adults, and the elderly. The findings indicate that different age groups exhibit varying degrees of sensitivity to spatial information, demand levels, and perceptual perspectives in underline parks, which result in distinct spatiotemporal distributions and spatial perception disparities when using the park. All the groups agree that the underpass sports space requires significant improvements in terms of comfort and safety. Based on this, this study proposes age-friendly urban space renewal strategies for spaces under elevated highways, focusing on addressing areas with lower satisfaction across all age groups. These strategies include optimizing the allocation of time, area, and activity types within activity spaces, enhancing the safety and comfort of activity areas, and enriching the cultural connotation and inclusivity of the space. This research provides a theoretical basis for optimizing and creating age-friendly or age-specific urban sports public spaces under elevated highways.

Keywords: sports space under overpasses; public perception; age differences; age-friendly; inclusive design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/2/293/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/2/293/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:2:p:293-:d:1580503

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().