Assessing The Spatial Accessibility Of Physical Fitness Facilities For Older Adults In Winter Cities Of China

The national fitness proposal encourages more and more urban residents to take participate in daily physical activities,while the provision between the participator and area with physical fitness facilities are not equal.The supply of area with physical fitness facilities cannot meet the need of participator of daily physical activities.According to the Sixth Census of China,there was 8.87% of people who aged more than 65 years old.Estimates has shown that older adults will become the largest group of people by 2050.Urban planning should seek appropriate approach to achieve equity and efficiency in urban space and resources.Although massive investment was used for the construction project in urban areas of China,generally speaking,there is a limitation in the concerning about the climate background of winter cities.Relevant research has proved that adequate daily physical activity(PA)can provide physical and mental benefits for older adults.It has been testified that cold environment have negative influence on older adults when participating in PA.The long and harsh winter place higher barriers for the older adults of winter cities to participate in PA.This research examines the relevant indicators of PA behaviors and the accessibility of area with physical fitness activities through literature review.The aim of this research is to find out whether spatial disparities exists in access to physical fitness facilities based on the PA behaviors of older adults in the cold environment of winter city.Nangang district of Harbin was taken as an example through questionnaires regarding socio-economic positions,personal PA behavior and personal traffic behavior in cold environment based on the survey organized by the government in 2014.Two-step floating catchment area(2SFCA)method was also applied to assess the accessibility of physical fitness facilities.The assessment shows that accessibility scores of physical fitness facilities vary greatly from one district to another and the provisions between area with physical fitness facilities and the distribution of area with physical fitness facilities are not equal.Besides,the current distribution of physical fitness facilities accessibility cannot meet the need of older adults of each sub-district.Strategies were provided for the health planning of winter cities based on the assessment of accessibility,providing evidence for future physical fitness facilities planning.