Content uploaded by Paul Hanel
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Paul Hanel on Sep 18, 2024
Content may be subject to copyright.
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at
https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=clar20
Landscape Research
ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/clar20
Active urbanism and choice architecture:
encouraging the use of challenging city routes for
health and fitness
Anna Boldina, Paul H. P. Hanel & Koen Steemers
To cite this article: Anna Boldina, Paul H. P. Hanel & Koen Steemers (2023) Active urbanism
and choice architecture: encouraging the use of challenging city routes for health and fitness,
Landscape Research, 48:3, 276-296, DOI: 10.1080/01426397.2022.2142204
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/01426397.2022.2142204
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa
UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis
Group.
View supplementary material
Published online: 04 Dec 2022.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 1881
View related articles
View Crossmark data
Active urbanism and choice architecture: encouraging the
use of challenging city routes for health and fitness
Anna Boldina
a
, Paul H. P. Hanel
b
and Koen Steemers
a
a
Department of Architecture, The Martin Centre for Architectural and Urban Studies, University of
Cambridge, Cambridge, UK;
b
Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
ABSTRACT
Inactivity is one of the major health risks in technologically developed
countries. This paper explores the potential of a series of urban land-
scape interventions to engage people in physical activity. Online surveys
were conducted with 595 participants living in the UK by inviting them
to choose between conventional pavement or challenging routes (step-
pingstones, balancing beams, and high steps) using photorealistic
images. Across four experiments, we discovered that 80% of walkers
claim they would pick a challenging route in at least one of the scen-
arios, depending on perceived level of difficulty and design characteris-
tics. Where a challenging option was shorter than a conventional route,
this increased the likelihood of being chosen by 10%, and the presence
of handrails by 12%. This suggests that people can get nudged into
physical activities through minor changes to the urban landscape. We
discuss implications for policy makers and urban designers.
KEYWORDS
Active urbanism; choice
architecture; exercise;
invigorating landscape;
health; sociopsychology;
urban design
Introduction
Problem
The current level of inactivity in many countries is often described as an ‘Inactivity pandemic’
(Kohl et al., 2012) and is fueled further by technological development, availability of personal
transport, goods delivery, and working from home (Dobbie, Hydes, Alam, Tahrani, &
Cuthbertson, 2022).
Health organisations such as WHO (Word Health Organisation) and the British NHS (National
Health Service) recommend at least 150 minutes of Moderate or 75 minutes of Vigorous activity
spread over a week, including a variety of activities aimed at enhancing bones, muscles, and agil-
ity to stay healthy. In addition, adults over 65 are advised to perform strength, flexibility, and bal-
ance exercises (NHS, 2018).
Although increasing physical activity is a widely recognised aspect of health promotion,
engaging sedentary people in exercise requires better motivation: nearly 39% of the UK popula-
tion do not meet the recommended targets (Sallis & Owen, 2015; Teixeira, Carrac¸a, Markland,
Silva, & Ryan, 2012). The current consensus on physical activity promotion is to encourage exer-
cise that is incorporated into daily routines (Pate et al., 1995; Tesler, Endevelt, & Plaut, 2022).
CONTACT Anna Boldina ab2509@cam.ac.uk
Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/01426397.2022.2142204
ß2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
LANDSCAPE RESEARCH
2023, VOL. 48, NO. 3, 276–296
https://doi.org/10.1080/01426397.2022.2142204
Furthermore, studies show a strong influence of the context on human behaviour and suggest a
notable potential of the design of cityscapes on health outcomes (Anderson, Ruggeri, Steemers,
& Huppert, 2017; Thaler & Sunstein, 2009; TRB, 2005). Serendipitous exercising ‘on the go’has
the benefit of being time-flexible and allows multitasking, thereby avoiding some of the main
constraints of organised sport and health programs: travel, cost, health-related anxieties, and
thoughts about finitude of life (Goldenberg & Arndt, 2008).
The design principles for the built environment to improve health and well-being of users
form the central question of an increasing number of research studies (Baker, Nick, & Steemers,
2019; Barton, Grant, & Guise, 2020; Chen, Nguyen, & Comaroff, 2021; Fudge, Grant, & Wallbaum,
2020; Guo & Mell, 2021; Marques, McIntosh, & Kershaw, 2021; Steemers, 2015). Some of the
insights from such research have already been incorporated into planning guidelines and policies
(Barton, Tsourou, & WHO 2000; Department for Transport, 2020a; Healthy Streets for London,
2017; Ministry of Housing & Community & Local Government, 2021). This paper contributes to
this growing literature by focusing on modifications to the urban pedestrian landscape that
could nudge pedestrians into safe and intrinsically motivated exercise whilst on their daily rou-
tine walks: to work, shopping, or promenading. The main target group of the research are seden-
tary people not meeting the NHS activity recommendations, however additional exercise would
benefit others as well.
Statistics in the UK show that 69.9% of UK residents walk over 30 min/day, and 86% walk over
10 min/day (Department for Transport, 2020b). There is a negative correlation between doing
vigorous sports (such as football or running) and regular long walks (Table 6). The above sug-
gests that there is a significant overlap between the target group (not active enough people)
and walkers. Slow walking on an even pavement is better than no exercise but it causes no sig-
nificant increase in heart rate so only qualifies as mild exercise (Burton, Stokes, & Hall, 2004). It
also does not significantly improve balance and bone density if it does not include jumping, bal-
ancing, and stepping down (Boldina, Gomes, & Steemers, 2022, Boldina, Henry, Santos, &
Steemers, 2022; Karlsson & Rosengren, 2012). We are looking for potential modifications to the
urban environment that could facilitate a wider range of exercises incorporated in waking.
The questions that the paper is aiming to answer are: what proportion of participants would
show an intention to choose a more challenging exercise route over a conventional one, and
how can this proportion be increased through changes to the design of the route?
Psychology of persuasion and choice architecture
The approaches taken in this research are based on several existing concepts:
‘Choice Architecture’refers to making good choices easier and less beneficial choices harder
and has been actively explored and applied by governments and organisations in the last dec-
ade. The concept is based on the observation that humans do not process all their decisions
with the same depth and often base their decisions on impulses (‘thinking fast’), rather than on
logical cognition of remote goals (‘thinking slow’) (Christenfeld, 1995; Kahneman, 2013; Petty &
Cacioppo, 1986; Thaler & Sunstein, 2009). Simply reminding people of their long-term goals and
values (such as being healthy) can work as a nudge (Kerr, Eves, & Carroll, 2001).
Another way to encourage healthier choices has been evidenced through the application of
‘Fun theory’which is a strategy whereby physical activity is made more exciting, such as the use
of ‘piano stairs’which play notes when stepped on, replacing ordinary stairs (Peeters, Megens,
van den Hoven, Hummels, & Brombacher, 2013). Designing more of such opportunities into the
cityscape encourages improvisation and interaction with strangers and can make people feel like
the spaces ‘belong’to them (Anderson et al., 2017; Jacobs, 1961; Sennett & Sendra, 2020).
Beyond making choices easier and more fun, six main principles of persuasion: reciprocity,
consistency, social proof, authority, liking, and scarcity (Cialdini, 2007) can be projected to
LANDSCAPE RESEARCH 277
cityscape design. For example, walking straight can be perceived as more consistent than walk-
ing circuitously (Rom, 2003). People tend to be influenced by social norms such as seeing how
others choose their routes in the same landscape (de Groot, Bondy, & Schuitema, 2021). The
degree to which a route is ‘liked’is influenced by aesthetics, functionality, and perception of
safety (Hoogendoorn & Bovy, 2004; Seneviratne & Morrall, 1985).
Part of the decision-making process may not be fully conscious and the person in question
may not be able to articulate their own choice for taking one route over another (Hoogendoorn
& Bovy, 2004). Those route choices correlate with psychological traits: for example, drivers who
scored higher on sensation seeking, neuroticism, extraversion and consciousness have been
found to change their routes more often than others (Gila, Tomer, & Ben-Zion, 2011; Tawfik &
Rakha, 2012).
Studies show that if the motivation behind the intention, for example to exercise is intrinsic –
it is likely to involve stronger feelings of personal investment, autonomy, as well as self-
identification and as a result a person is more likely to change their behaviour for an extended
period of time (Hein, M€
u€
ur, & Koka, 2004).
Knowledge gap
Previous research on healthy route choices has primarily focused on people’s likelihood of walk-
ing instead of using transport (Barton et al., 2020), but not how likely people are to pick a more
challenging route over a conventional one and which design characteristics influence such
choices. Some studies investigated whether pedestrians would displace from a tarmac walkway
to an informal path in the grass but did not elaborate on the physical parameters of both routes
(Arnberger & Haider, 2017). Moreover, existing research on pedestrian route choices has not con-
sidered the personal characteristics of people beyond demographics. This can be limiting as mar-
keting theory argues that segmentation (targeting subgroups rather than undifferentiated mass
audience) can make choice architecture more effective (Wymer, Knowles, & Gomes, 2021): for
example sensation seekers can be influenced in a different way to health enthusiasts (Rune,
Waaler, Halvari, Skjesol, & Ulstad, 2022). This paper addresses these gaps by investigating correla-
tions between personality traits with the selection of city routes that represent varying levels of
difficulty and challenge in terms of physical activity.
In summary, this paper aims to contribute to the implementation of active landscape through
assessing and recommending design interventions in the pedestrian landscape that encourage
increased physical activity and subsequent well-being.
The experiments
Method
To find out how likely people are to pick a more challenging route over a conventional one and
what can influence such choices, we created photorealistic images presenting two or more
routes. Participants were shown those images on a computer screen and asked which of those
would they choose for walking - a method successfully used in urban and landscape research for
decades to determine reactions to real situations (Daniel et al., 1976; Needham, Rollins, & Wood,
2004; van der Ham, Faber, Venselaar, van Kreveld, & L€
offler, 2015).
The parameters that can potentially influence participants’choices were identified through lit-
erature review and street observations. Discrete choices were complemented with open ended
questions to understand the rationale of participant’s preferences. The insights gained from each
experiment informed the design of subsequent experiments, resulting in a sequence of five
experiments outlined in Table 1. Pictures of all scenarios, the data, as well as the exact wording
278 A. BOLDINA ET AL.
of the questions can be found on the Open Science Framework https://osf.io/574jv/?view_only=
098567dd6f90463dba70f09b0b2ac93c.
Participants
Recruiting participants through social networks of the researchers can lead to sampling and
social desirability biases. To minimise this effect, the online crowdsourcing platform Prolific
Academic was used to invite anonymous UK residents to complete an online Qualtrics question-
naire in February-July of 2021. They were paid £5.50 per hour.
A power analysis revealed that a sample size of 210 was required for a final experiment
(Study 2) to detect a medium effect size of f
2
¼0.25 with a power of 0.95 in a 2 2-between
subject ANOVA (a¼0.05).
Scenarios
Each study contains 7–12 scenarios: images of places shown to participants, with one, two or
four variations. Scenarios are assigned with numbers: P1–P7 for the Pilot study, 1A–1Y for Study
1 and 2A–2J for Study 2. Photorealistic collages were created using Adobe Photoshop software
based on photographs from British cities.
The pilot study was designed to form a general understanding of various people’s thinking,
to grasp the main directions of further research, and to test whether our method is understood
by the participants. We defined a list of encouraging/discouraging parameters to be tested in
the scenarios (e.g. handrail or other people present vs absent). Scenarios that showed potential
for useful results (such as P3) were developed further, scenarios where participants showed little
interest in picking the challenging route (such as P2) were not included in Experiments 1 and 2.
Some of reasoning participants gave responding open-ended questions informed add-
itional scenarios
In the pilot study and Study 1 we varied only one parameter in each scenario. This allowed
us to calculate the proportion of participants showing the intention to pick a challenging route,
while Study 2 is aimed to quantify the effect of each design parameter (e.g. presence of unusual
sculpture). To measure the effect of one parameter all others needed to be constant, and there-
fore a calibrated images method with two-by-two design was applied: each scenario had four
variations to test the effect of 2 parameters per scenario, such as route length or the presence
of a handrail (Appendix A). As an exception due to ambiguous parameters that encourage some
people and discourage others, participants saw in questions 2F and 2H one of two pairs of
images and were offered the choice between picking a challenging route in only one of the
images, in both or in neither (Figure 1).
Table 1. Experiments and basic participant data 2.
Date
Number of
participants
Percentage
female Mean age Scenarios
Pilot study Feb 2021 33 42 –Method testing 7 scenarios
Study 1 March 2021 203 62 34.01 12 Scenarios
Study 2 July 2021 303 55 37.3 9 Scenarios with 2–4
randomised variations
Study 2a (patch) July 2021 56 ––Amended versions of scenarios
2 A and 2 J from Study 2
Supporting study –
route difficulty
Feb 2022 11 Data from this study was used
to define correlations in
main studies.
LANDSCAPE RESEARCH 279
Parameters were distributed between scenarios so that each parameter was tested in two or
more scenarios (Table 2). This allowed us to test the impact of various manipulations, while
keeping the number of participants and length of the survey manageable.
Results of scenarios A and J in Study 2 were skewed by technical issues with images, so
‘patch’Study 2a was created which only included correct images for those scenarios.
For Studies 1 and 2, we ran a survey to examine the perceived level of difficulty of each
route. Participants were asked to assign a score from 1 (as easy as walking on level tarmac) to 7
(I would not be able to do it). More details on the method can be found on the Open Science
Framework https://osf.io/574jv/?view_only=098567dd6f90463dba70f09b0b2ac93c .
Demographics and personality variables
To test whether the tendency to choose challenging routes is linked to demographic and per-
sonality factors, participants were asked to answer questions about their age, gender, habits,
health, occupation, and personality traits (such as sensation seeking or general anxiety). A stand-
ard alpha-level (a) of 0.05 was used to determine statistical significance.
Sensation Seeking was measured with the 8-item Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (BSSS). The
internal consistency of this widely used test was adequate (Cronbach’sa¼0.73) (van Dongen, de
Groot, Rassin, Hoyle, & Franken, 2022). Generalised Anxiety was measured with the 4-item ver-
sion of the Generalised Anxiety Scale (GAD-7, a¼0.76) (Spitzer, Kroenke, Williams, & L€
owe, 2006).
The participants’occupation was incorporated as a variable in Study 2: 30% of participants
self-reported as students, 31% employees, 12% managers, 8% business owners, 10%
unemployed, 8% retired, and 1% other, showing a reasonable resemblance to the UK population.
Figure 1. Scenario F. Example of question with paired images in Study 2.
280 A. BOLDINA ET AL.
Table 2. Scenario summary descriptions and organisation.
Pilot study
Challenge Scenario number Description
Balancing beam P1 Participants could choose between a shortcut in a park across a balancing
beam, or a conventional route on pavement which is 1.8 times longer
P2 Balancing beam and stepping pyramid by a river path running parallel,
hence same length.
Stepping stones P3 Shortcut in a park with steppingstones, default route on pavement is 1.8
times longer
P4 Existing steppingstones shortcut in Stratford Olympic Park (London), large
and easy to use, 5 times shorter
P5 Timber steppingstones in water, compared to 1.5 times longer
route around
P6 Tall concrete steppingstones in a park, running parallel with a
conventional route, of the same length, with a poster saying ‘Exercise!
To stay fit and healthy’
Cobbled stones P7 Choice between even pavers and cobblestones in a Cambridge college
with poster saying ‘try walking on cobblestones, improve your balance’
Study 1
Challenge Scenario number Description
Steppingstones, wave, and
balancing beam
1A,1F & 1D Shortcut in a park with steppingstones or balancing beam
(developed from P3)
1C & 1E Pedestrian street by St. Paul’s Cathedral (London) with a
combination of challenging and conventional routes. 1C has
only a narrow steppingstone pass next to wide conventional
pavement. In 1E conventional pass is narrow and most of the
width is taken by various challenging routes: timber wave,
steppingstones, beams. Sign ‘way to get fit and healthy’.
1G Existing steppingstones shortcut, large and easy to use (P4)
1Y & 1H Stone steppingstones over water with and without handrail (P5)
1J Tall concrete steppingstones with a variety in heights (P6)
Jumping down 1B & 1I Jump down from a box before and after osteoporosis/bone density
information. Other 2 options are steps and ramp.
Cobbed stones 1K Choice between even pavers and cobblestones in an old
Cambridge college.
Study 2 and 2a
Challenge Scenario Description
Parameter
1 tested
Parameter
2 tested
Stepping stones 2A Steppingstones shortcut in a park with
flowers (Freeman et al., 2021) or winding
tarmac route around (1A)
Geometrical layout Flower beds
design suggests
the
steppingstones
are the
main route
2H Pair of images with steppingstones: right in
water, left in grass. Complemented with a
follow-up study
Handrail Chance of falling
into water
Presence
of people2J Tall steppingstones with a nudging poster
(developed from P6,1J)
Wording of poster
Balancing beam 2E Log with a handrail over a lake as one of 2
routes to the ice-cream van. In half of the
variations, we changed the pavement to
make the route over the log look like an
extension of the main route.
Geometrical
layout,
pavement
colour
Distances
2G Balancing beam as shortcut towards
fountain. In 2 of 4 variations, we added
flowers and a sculpture of a woman
riding a bear.
Handrail ‘Fun effect’
2F Balancing beam in a forest or pass next to
it. Comparison of 2 options
Presence of water,
beam width
and layout
(continued)
LANDSCAPE RESEARCH 281
The data was analysed using Qualtrics built-in tools, as well as SPSS and R statistical software.
The research approach was based on existing techniques but applied in a novel way, and pro-
duced a rich combination of quantitative data and qualitative insights, which are discussed in
the following sections.
Results
Proportion of the population willing to take a challenging route in each given situation
The proportion of participants who stated they were willing to pick a more challenging route varied
from 14% (Scenario 1D) to 78% (Scenario 2E) depending on the perceived difficulty of the route and
to various situational advantages of the challenging route compared to other route(s), discussed in
more detail below.
There were a great variety of reasons for picking challenging routes, including tendencies to
take a shorter route: ‘Because stepping down on the lightbox is quicker’, staying healthier both
physically and mentally: ‘Because I’m still agile so I’m gonna use it before I lose it’,‘Practising
balance is an important part of staying fit and healthy’,‘Changes in heights make your brain
work’,‘The ramp is for those unable to use the step’and experiencing new sensations: ‘The
ramp looks boring’,‘I like unconventional way of exiting a place’,
The participants who picked conventional routes had concerns about safety stating: ‘because
it doesn’t look safe for all makeshift not solid looking’,‘don’t want to break my ankle’.
Another often mentioned reason was peer pressure from observers and a concept of how an
adult should behave. Participants were worried about how they would look and if they might do
something that would be frowned upon: ‘I feel like the pavement is there for a reason and the
balancing beam is built for children. I guess, there are other adults around so would not want to
go on the beam for no apparent reason’,‘Seems like it would be less "natural" and possibly
embarrassing to be seen trying to reach the floor using the lightbox. Also, there are no signs
suggesting that the lightbox is suitable or intended for this use’.
Participants expressed their concerns about damage that activity might do to their clothes and
hair: ‘don’twanttomessupthehairplusthatlooksmorelikeajump’,‘don’t like muddy shoes’.
Role of individual design characteristics of the routes
Physical parameters
The perceived levels of difficulty (noted in Table 3 as ‘DL’) of each route (cf. Figure 2) were calcu-
lated as the average from the supporting study participants’responses. This parameter of the
route was negatively correlated with the proportion of participants willing to take it. For the
Table 2. Continued.
Study 2 and 2a
Challenge Scenario Description
Parameter
1 tested
Parameter
2 tested
Timber wave 2C Choice between 4 routes by St. Paul
cathedral (London): timber wave,
conventional pavement
Presence of even
more
challenging
option
Presence
of people
Jump down 2B Choice between 3 routes: steps, ramp or
jump, London. Jumping is suggested from
a red box into a target painted on
the ground.
Screening
with bushes
2D Step down or ramp with distinctly
different aesthetics.
Handrails Design of ramp
282 A. BOLDINA ET AL.
Table 3. Overview summary and highlights of results for studies 1 and 2.
Type of challenge & potential
health benefit
Scenario and complexity level (cl;
0- obstacle course, 1-complex,
2- medium, 3-easy).
Proportion of
participants
picking the
challenging r.
Most mentioned encouraging
effects (multiple
answers possible).
Most mentioned discouraging effects (in
scenarios without open-end question
column left blank)
Stepping-stones
Balance, increased metabolic
rate, mindfulness calming
effect, more leg muscles co-
activating (Boldina, Gomes,
et al., 2022; Fattorini et al.,
2012; Voloshina et al., 2013)
1A DL 3.0 steppingstones shortcut with long
route around
36% N¼203 Of participants who picked
shortcut: 81% fun, 20%
shorter/faster, 8% view,
3% curiosity
Of participants who picked conventional
route (N¼74): 29% indicated that
steppingstones are safer, 20% easier,
12% assumed for children, 11% not
meant for walking, 9% dirty shoes, 6%
embarrassment, 5% wanted to walk
longer/take more steps
1F DL 3.0 steppingstones shortcut 38% ––
1C DL 2.1 Round stepping
stones in grass
29% 50% Too crowded, 49% slippery, 39% too
high, 3% too low, 37% not clear its for
walking on, 27% stones too far from
each other
1E four options DL 2.1 round
stepping- stones
on a lawn
28% 10% Overcrowding
6% safety
DL 3.1 tall stepping-
stones in grass
17%
Total 45%
1G DL 2.2 wide steppingstones 64% 18% Faster/shorter, 31% fun
1Y DL 3.6 rough stone steppingstones across
water, no handrail (Figure 4(a)).
18%
1H DL 3.1 rough stone steppingstones
across water with handrail
30% 26% Of those who picked the
conventional route would
pick the challenging route if
with friends or children. 5%
would try only if drunk.
18% Who did not pick the challenging
route mentioned water as a
discouragement, especially in cold
weather or when dressed up.
1J DL 3.1 tall concrete steppingstones 37%
2A DL 3 shortcut with stones (Figure 4(b)) 63% N¼303 Fun and quicker SHOES concerns
2H DL 2.3/3.1/3.6 steppingstones across
grass and water with or without
handrail (comparison)
32% grassþ10%
water þ33%
both ¼75%
Thrill: ‘it’s more fun when
there’s risk involved’
concerns about weird texture on shoes,
danger of trauma or embarrassment
2J DL 3.1 tall concrete steppingstones 56% Sign giving playing legitimacy
for adults
Embarrassment, danger of trauma
Balancing beam.
Balance, mindfulness, more
upper body, arms and legs
muscles co-activating
1D DL 4.3 shortcut-balancing beam 14% N¼203
2E DL 2.6 log with a handrail as one of 2
routes to ice-cream van.
59% N¼303 16% Scenic:
10% Fun
12.5% Safety concerns: ‘unless there are
handrails over the plank or someone
with me, again safety issues.’78% N¼75
(continued)
LANDSCAPE RESEARCH 283
Table 3. Continued.
Type of challenge & potential
health benefit
Scenario and complexity level (cl;
0- obstacle course, 1-complex,
2- medium, 3-easy).
Proportion of
participants
picking the
challenging r.
Most mentioned encouraging
effects (multiple
answers possible).
Most mentioned discouraging effects (in
scenarios without open-end question
column left blank)
2E DL 2.6 variation with van on the left and
design suggesting left.
2G DL 4.3 balancing beam as a shortcut
towards fountain
28% N¼303 Excitement: ‘because there is
bluebells and a woman
riding a bear’
Danger of falling
2F DL 4.9 balancing beam: comparison of
2 images
14% With dinos.
þ17% without þ
34% both ¼65%
Change to daily routine, to
prove own fitness: ‘just to
prove that I could still keep
my balance when I am in
my seventies’
Danger of injury
1F DL 2.2 variation with straight wide beam. 47%þ15%þ17%
¼79% N¼75
Timber wave. Increased heart
rate and calves stretching
1E DL 1.7 timber wave, other option
conventional
42% N¼203 New experience: ‘the timber
wave is fascinating’
Danger of trauma
2C DL 1.7 timber wave, one of 3
challenging options.
23% def. þ
25% prob. þ35%
pos. ¼303
Good balance of interesting
and not too difficult
Pavement is still easier
Assault course. Increased HR,
agility, strength
2C DL 5.9 assault course with monkey bars,
one of 3 challenging options
5% Definitely þ
11% prob. þ
26% possibly
New experience, interest Insufficient fitness, childish.
Jump/step down.
Bone density
1B DL 2.2 step down 0.5 m, other options:
conventional steps or ramp
45% Picking
20/100 and 22%
50/100.
16% Fun, 9% faster/
shorter route
28% Safest (18–75yo), 17% easiest, 10%
worried about opinion of others, 8%
prefer what they are used to
1I DL 2.2 step down 0.5 m after health info,
other: conventional steps or ramp,
59%20/100,
35%50/100
16% Bone health ‘for health
reasons, I’ll jump because it
may help my bone density’
Embarrassment: ‘less attention grabbing,
but if I’m with others I may choose the
red cube as I am aware of the benefit’
2B DL 2.2 step down 0.5 m into circle, other
opt.: conventional steps or ramp.
10% Def. þ20%
probably þ
39% maybe
20% Fun 13% Safer, 8% particular health issues, 4%
it’s for children
2D DL 3.1 jump/step down on lightbox,
or ramp.
11% Def. þ
13% maybe
Cobblestones leg muscles co-
act., reflexology
1K DL 1.3 rounded cobblestones with info
poster, alternative: even pavement.
47% N¼203 Following the sign
recommendation
Pain in the feet, danger of trauma
Note. DL: difficulty level.
284 A. BOLDINA ET AL.
assault course in scenario 2C including monkey bars and jumping pads 16% of participants were
inclined to choose it over the conventional, while for the least complex route –wide low step-
pingstones in scenario 2G –78% of participants were willing to take it.
Handrails next to the steppingstones increased the number of participants willing to choose
that particular route by12%. In multiple choice questions, 26% of participants picked ‘handrail
for safety’as one of the aspects that would encourage them to use the challenging route.
Shortcuts
Making challenging routes shorter than conventional ones appears to be the most effective lay-
out, encouraging between 36 and 55% of participants (n¼203) to choose such a route.
Interestingly, the extent of reduction of a route with a shortcut did not make a significant differ-
ence (Figure 3).
Layout
The design of pavement, lighting, and flowerbeds can work as a nudge, for example in Scenario
2E, the test version colouring of the pavement suggested the challenging route was the
Figure 2. Level of difficulty of each route scored and ranked from 1 (easy) to 8 (hard).Graph by the authors.
Figure 3. Scenarios 1A and 1F, similar scenarios, but with different length of the route around.
LANDSCAPE RESEARCH 285
continuation of the main road while the conventional looked as a side turn. In the control vari-
ation, challenging and conventional routes had the same pavement. 10% more participants
picked the challenging route in the test version (Figure 4).
Aesthetics plays an important role as a choice factor: in Scenario 1A, 8% of participants men-
tioned the view as an incentive to pick the challenging route. In other scenarios, participants
mentioned the elements of nature and intriguing objects as motivation.
Signs were mentioned both as a reason to take a challenging route: ‘The sign is pointing at
the stones, would probably check them out‘(Scenario 2J), and as a reason not to:‘The sign frus-
trates me; I don’t want to be told what to do’(Scenario 1J). In scenarios without signs, partici-
pants often mentioned they didn’t know if they were meant to walk there: ‘…. Also, there are
no signs suggesting that the lightbox is suitable or intended for this use’.
Perceived behaviour and social norms
The presence of people can have a positive effect (up to 9%) in reassuring participants that the
steppingstones are for walking on rather than an artistic display (Scenarios 1H, 1Y, and K1).
However, it can have a negative effect when it is perceived as causing overcrowding or observa-
tion (Scenarios 2A, 2D, 2E, and 2J). When answering the question ‘how do you pick your
route …?’3% mentioned following other people and 10% avoiding people. However, in Study 1,
40% of participants stated that active presence of other people on a challenging route was an
aspect that encouraged them to also choose that route. Participants, especially 20–25-year-old
ones, expressed concerns about being observed and judged by others.
Demographics and personality
Correlations between participants’personal characteristics (age, gender, personality traits etc.)
and their route choices and reasoning were calculated with SPSS software to identify the most
important correlations. Table 4 shows the ones applicable for cityscape design. Unrelated correla-
tions, such as between age and sensation seeking, are not reported.
CCR (Choice-of-Challenging-Route) for each participant was calculated as a sum of their
choices in all scenarios taken together, from 0 (would always pick only conventional routes) to
48 (would definitely pick all the challenging routes in all scenarios). Numbers in-between mean
the participant would either pick only a few routes or would ‘maybe’’ take some of them. The
correlation of this variable with the regular physical activity level of participants was non-signifi-
cant (r¼0.024-0.047, ps>.05), which suggests that people of all levels of activity are equally likely
to pick a challenging route on an image. However, for the most difficult routes –participants
who regularly engaged in strength and balancing exercises –were more likely to choose them.
There is a significant negative correlation of CCR with age but the percentage of participants
who would take only the conventional route in all scenarios was low in all age groups (Figure 5).
Despite being less prepared to take adventurous routes themselves, older generations were of
the concept just as much as younger ones.
Participants’opinions about the concept of exercise route
Study 2 (N¼303) included a question ‘What do you think about introducing one of the designs
you have just seen into your local park? Which ones? …’, 76% of participants were positive, 6%
explicitly negative, and 18% were found to be indifferent or gave no explicit approval of the
overall idea but were in favour of some elements.
Positivity of response to introducing Active Landscape in cities did not correlate with age,
gender, place of birth, sensation seeking, or anxiety. It only correlated with choosing exercise
routes r¼0.393, p<.001.
286 A. BOLDINA ET AL.
The reasons people gave to explain why they like the concept can be grouped into 3 main
categories: (1) providing easily available, inclusive exercise (the main target of this research), (2)
providing entertainment (this was meant only as a tool to encourage exercise), (3) adding visual
variety to the landscape (a pleasant side-effect)
Figure 4. Effect of the path appearance on route choice. (a) Scenario E. Two landscape designs. (b) Effect of the design on
preferences.
LANDSCAPE RESEARCH 287
The concept of making exercising seamless and enjoyable was fully understood by 14% of
respondents: ‘All of them, it makes exercising fun and less like a chore’.
Discussion and practical application for the built environment
The proportion of participants willing to pick a more challenging route varied from 14% for
the most difficult to 78% for the easiest of our challenges. While the increase in level and
extent of activity level can be modest in some cases, when projected to millions of people
using cityscapes on a daily basis, it can have a significant and beneficial impact on public
health. Previous examples of promoted travelling exercises, such as cycling and walking up
the stairs have resulted in a stable increase of activity (Assunc¸ao-Denis & Tomalty, 2019;
McGann, Jancey, & Tye, 2013). Repeated on a regular basis Active Landscape could shift the
calorie intake/expenditure balance (Hill et al., 2003), as well as improve heart, bone, and
mental health, especially when it results in the formation of new, healthier habits
(Verplanken & Wood, 2006).
Regarding the best locations to apply Active Landscape, people appeared to be more open to
exercise routes in their leisure time, accompanied by friends or children and not viewed by too many
onlookers. Routes that incorporate more difficult challenges, such as obstacle courses and narrow bal-
ancing beams, would benefit from being placed in areas more likely to be frequented by
younger users.
Making challenging routes even a little shorter than conventional ones is an effective measure
to encourage people to pick them. The intention to save time by taking a shorter route might
be the main reason, or there is a cognitive bias supporting an inclination to try something enter-
taining (Weiner, Graham, Peter, & Zmuidinas, 1991): further experiments could make the reasons
clearer and inform design decisions.
Figure 4. Continued.
288 A. BOLDINA ET AL.
Table 4. Significant correlations of demographic and personality of participants with the choices they make, N¼198.
Personal characteristic
Correlated with perceptions of active
landscape characteristics. Pearson’sr[95% CI]
Age Choice-of-challenging-route 0.287 [0.15, 0.41]
Concerns about being seen. 0.155[0.02, 0.29]
Occupation (binary: 0: no,
1: yes)
Director Understanding heath benefit of
exercise route
0.206 [0.07, 0.34]
Student Pick a route because it is
straightforward0.
0.235 [0.10, 0.36]
Sensation seeking (BSSS) Choice-of-challenging-route 0.491 [0.38, 0.59]
Picking route between scary
dinosaurs in scenario 2F
0.327 [0.20, 0.44]
Anxiety (GAD 7) Concerns about being seen and
judged when taking
challenging route.
0.243 [0.11, 0.37]
Seeing stepping down as childish 0.424 [0.30, 0.53]
Walking pattern: leisurely walk
over 30 min at least once a week
Playing football 0.250 [0.38, 0.12]
Being a student 0.186 [0.05, 0.32]
Sometimes walk over an hour 0.307 [0.18, 0.43]
Exercising per week Doing what is meant to be done 0.185 [0.05, 0.32]
Regular strength exercises Jumping from the box into blue
circle (Scenario 1B)
0.254 [0.12, 0.38]
Note. p<.05; p<.01; p<.001.
Self-reported occupation categories included: students, employee, don’t manage anyone else, managers, business owners,
company directors, unemployed, retired, and others. 1-yes, belong to this category, 0-no. Excel table of correlations can
be found on the Open Science Framework https://osf.io/574jv/?view_only=098567dd6f90463dba70f09b0b2ac93c.
Figure 5. Association between age and adventurousness. Graph by authors.
LANDSCAPE RESEARCH 289
The least intimidating of challenging routes were those with wide, steady-looking balancing
beams (Scenarios 2F and 2E) and wide steppingstones (Scenarios 1G, 2A and J), especially with
the presence of handrails. At the same time, more challenging routes have larger health benefits.
Combining wide and narrow beams would accommodate a wider range of skill sets and confi-
dence levels. Multiple options generally tend to normalise the idea of the unusual routes avail-
able and attract more people to try at least one (Scenario 1E). The effect of handrails can be
explained as providing support while walking, a safety measure in case of slipping or losing bal-
ance, or as a sign that the beam is meant for walking on (Gamble & Walker, 2016). Structures
need to be as well as look strong and steady: participants raised concerns about the stability of
the structure in scenarios where a step looked less solid (Scenario 2 D and others) (Ghosn,
Alama, & Azhari, 2021).
In the scenarios presented, participants were sometimes unsure if a route was for walking or
only to be observed as an art display. Various scenarios showed that signage, materials, and lay-
out can help to reassure people that they are meant and encouraged to take this route. Adding
handrails works both for added perceived safety and for making it clear that the route is for
walking. Due to often raised by participants structural stability concerns, structures need not
only to be but also to look steady.
The assumption that routes are for children only, and not for adults, came up in multiple
responses and could be addressed by means of colours, design styles, and signage. At the same
time, ‘fun’was most often given as a reason for picking the exercise routes, and some respond-
ents commented specifically on enjoyable features of routes, such as the dinosaur sculptures or
the target painted on the pavement. Making exercising more interesting can turn it into an
enjoyable activity that participants want to repeat (Vernadakis, Kouli, Tsitskari, Gioftsidou, &
Antoniou, 2014).
Similarities to nature tend to remind people of pursuits like hiking, which makes walking over
water and natural materials, such as plants, timber, and stones especially popular. Glass and con-
crete suggest more formal behaviour (Scenarios 2A, 2C, and 2E) (Sennett & Sendra, 2020).
The correlation with personality traits sets the basis for potential market segmentation:
attracting Sensation Seekers might require exciting art pieces and a sense of adventure while for
people keen to improve their health, posters with information might be more effective.
While our findings are new in the area of Active Landscape, they are conceptually related to
research aimed to increase active travel such as walking or cycling (McLeod, Babb, & Barlow,
2020). For example, providing relevant and safe infrastructure alongside pro-cycling policies and
programs has been effective for promoting those activities (Assunc¸ao-Denis & Tomalty, 2019).
The findings can be applied outdoors or indoors, and our research supports those initiatives
underpinned by intuition in some designs from around the world (Figure 6).
Limitations
Data was collected on the Prolific platform, which can only collect answers from people who
have access to the internet through a computer (Peer, Rotschild, Evernden, Gordon, & Damer,
2021). Thus, our findings might be slightly different in representative samples.
We measured intention rather than behaviour in our study, because this allowed us to get a
better first impression of what factors can increase intentions to select a more challenging route.
While intentions and actual behaviour are correlated (Webb & Sheeran, 2006) and interventions
to change intentions also tends to result in behaviour change (McDermott, Oliver, Iverson, &
Sharma, 2016), future research is needed to test whether our interventions also lead to actual
behaviour change.
The main concept of this research is intrinsic motivation for exercise: giving people the oppor-
tunity to exercise because they want to do this move right now, rather than because they
290 A. BOLDINA ET AL.
believe it is expected of them. The way participants explained their choices demonstrate that
the scenarios offered all three types of intrinsic motivation (Teixeira et al., 2012): to know (curios-
ity to try unusual route); to accomplish (prove oneself to be able to do it), and to experiencing
Figure 6. (a) Corridor in Bad Blumau spa hotel, Hundertwasser (Bad Blumau website). (b) Arena sculpture by John Maine,
author’s photo and (c) pavement in Hague, Netherlands, author’s photo.
LANDSCAPE RESEARCH 291
stimulation (see closer flowers and sculptures, be elevated above ground and water), and hence
the behaviour is likely to follow the intention.
The nature of the experiments reveals the self-reported behaviour intentions, which can devi-
ate from actual behaviour. However, digitally created images have been successfully used for
decades in urban and landscape research (Daniel et al., 1976; Needham et al., 2004; van der Ham
et al., 2015) and industry to study the reaction to yet-to-be-built environments (Bateson & Hui,
1992). Dichotomous choice analysis was also used to quantify the effect of various social factors
on the choice of routes in parks and overcrowding on walking, cycling, and jogging (Arnberger
& Eder, 2011; Muhar, Reichhart, & Arnberger, 2007). The theory of planned behaviour suggests
that an individual’s decision to engage in a specific behaviour can to a reasonable extent be pre-
dicated by their intention to engage in that behaviour (Jones, Pykett, & Whithead, 2013;
Marteau, 2018). Applying our findings to test sites or in natural experiments would enable the
results to be checked in terms of showing if people choose the same routes as they chose on
calibrated images, if they keep choosing them consistently and to what extent it will improve
their health.
Figure 6. Continued.
292 A. BOLDINA ET AL.
Scenarios that look exciting at the first glance might become less appealing after some time
resulting in reduced use. On the other hand, people might make it a habit to use the more excit-
ing routes, thereby constantly improving their fitness. Being ‘nudged’into using active routes,
and through positive feedback people might be inclined to continue their routines frequently
and automatically, thus changing their habits over time (Neal et al., 2016; Verplanken &
Wood, 2006).
There are many ways to encourage people to be more active and some of them might be
more effective than the ones explored in this paper. However, Active Landscapes, if implemented
more widely, provides an additional opportunity that could be promoted through school educa-
tion, health systems, or mass media.
The experiments were performed with UK residents as participants and might therefore not
replicate in other countries. Additional/comparative studies in other cultural/legal/climatic condi-
tions could be beneficial.
Conclusion
We discovered that up to 78% of walkers would be prepared to take a moderately more chal-
lenging route and that the majority of participants (76%) were approving of the concept of
Active Landscape, once familiarised with it. Based on the research, we identified key design prin-
ciples that increased a route’s attractiveness, which in turn nudged increased active usage
Applying the above principles in the design of public space might improve the overall phys-
ical and mental health of a population. This study provides a framework of research evidence to
support and guide policy makers, urban designers, and communities in improving health and
promoting wellbeing.
Acknowledgement
The authors thank the students of the University of Cambridge for participation in questionnaire testing and dis-
cussions. Special credit to Boldins, Mitenko, Watermans, Rihab Khalid, Jack Wiliams, Arthur Daves, Jonathan Sutcliffe
and Masha Dianova for their useful comments from various areas of expertise.
Ethical approval
Research was approved by the University of Cambridge Faculty of Architecture and History of Art
Ethical Committee.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Funding
Anna Boldina’s doctoral research was sponsored by EPSRC DTP. Prolific data collection was sponsored by Christ’s
College and Land Association.
Notes on contributors
Anna Boldina (BA(Hons), Diploma), after working for 15 years as an architect/urban designer and developer in
London and internationally, Anna Boldina is now applying her collected experience to her PhD research in Urban
Design/Sociopsychology/Biokinetics. They are developing a toolbox to provide attractive opportunities to exercise
more effectively during daily pedestrian experiences, whether commutes or walks for pleasure. Anna is keen to
apply her research in practice through policies and design.
LANDSCAPE RESEARCH 293
Paul H. P. Hanel (BSc, BA, MSc, PhD) research interests include social, personality, political, and cross-cultural psych-
ology as well as science communication and research methods. A significant part of his empirical work includes
human values (e.g. freedom, loyalty, security). Among other things he is interested in how people perceive the val-
ues of other people, and whether living in cities or countries in which other people share one’s values has positive
effects on one’s well-being. Currently, he is especially interested in similarities between groups of people, for
example, women and men, younger and older people, or people from different countries.
Koen Steemers (BSc, BArch, MPhil, PhD, LLD, RIBA ARB) is Professor of Sustainable Design and has been Head of
Department and Director of Research at the University of Cambridge Department of Architecture. His current
research addresses the architectural and urban implications of environmental issues ranging from energy use to
human wellbeing. He has over 200 academic publications, including ten books, and worked on numerous large
internationally funded research projects related to his area of interest.
ORCID
Anna Boldina http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2601-4438
Paul H. P. Hanel http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3225-1395
Koen Steemers http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7378-7033
Bibliography
Anderson, J., Ruggeri, K., Steemers, K., & Huppert, F. (2017). Lively social space, well-being activity, and urban
design: Findings from a low-cost community-led public space intervention. Environment and Behavior,49(6),
685–716. doi:10.1177/0013916516659108
Arnberger, A., & Eder, R. (2011). The influence of age on recreational trail preferences of urban green-space visitors:
A discrete choice experiment with digitally calibrated images. Journal of Environmental Planning and
Management,54(7), 891–908. doi:10.1080/09640568.2010.539875
Arnberger, A., & Haider, W. (2017). Would You Displace? It Depends! A Multivariate Visual Approach to Intended
Displacement from an Urban Forest Trail. Journal of Leisure Research,39(2), 345–365.
Assunc¸ao-Denis, M.-
E., & Tomalty, R. (2019). Increasing cycling for transportation in Canadian communities:
Understanding what works. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice,123, 288–304. doi:10.1016/j.tra.
2018.11.010
Baker, N., Nick, V., & Steemers, K. (2019). Healthy homes: Designing with light and air for sustainability and wellbeing
(1st.). London: RIBA Publishing.
Barton, H., Grant, M., & Guise, R. (2020). Shaping neighbourhoods. A guide for health, sustainability and vitality (2nd
edition). London: Spoon.
Barton, H., Tsourou, C., & WHO. (2000). Healthy urban planning: A WHO guide to planning for people. London: Taylor
& Francis.
Bateson, J. E. G., & Hui, M. K. (1992). The ecological validity of photographic slides and videotapes in simulating the
service setting. Journal of Consumer Research,19(2), 271–281. doi:10.1086/209301
Boldina, A., Gomes, B., & Steemers, K. (2022). Active urbanism: The potential effect of urban design on bone health.
Cities & Health,6(2), 389–403. doi:10.1080/23748834.2021.1921512
Boldina, A., Henry, C., Santos, A. C., & Steemers, K. (2022). Active urbanism: Heart rate and oxygen consumption
comparison between walking on steppingstones imitation versus plain surface. Cities & Health.
Burton, D. A., Stokes, K., & Hall, G. M. (2004). Physiological effects of exercise. Continuing Education in Anaesthesia
Critical Care & Pain,4(6), 185–188. doi:10.1093/bjaceaccp/mkh050
Chen, J., Nguyen, H., & Comaroff, J. (2021). The neighbourhood as a fitness circuit: A Singaporean case study of
designing for active ageing. Cities & Health,5(3), 224–233. doi:10.1080/23748834.2021.1930980
Christenfeld, N. (1995). Choices from identical options. Psychological Science,6(1), 50–55. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.
1995.tb00304.x
Cialdini, R. B. (2007). Influence: The psychology of persuasion. New York: Harper Collins.
Daniel, T. C., Boster, R. S., & Forest, R. M, Range Experiment Station (Fort Collins, Colo.), & Service, U. S. F. (1976).
Measuring landscape esthetics: The scenic beauty estimation method. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Washington, USA.
de Groot, J. I. M., Bondy, K., & Schuitema, G. (2021). Listen to others or yourself? The role of personal norms on the
effectiveness of social norm interventions to change pro-environmental behavior. Journal of Environmental
Psychology,78, 101688. doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101688
Department for Transport. (2020a). LTN 1/20 cycle infrastructure design. https://www.gov.uk/government/
organisations/department-for-transport
294 A. BOLDINA ET AL.
Department for Transport. (2020b). Walking and cycling (TSGB11). Statistical dataset. https://www.gov.uk/
government/statisticaldata-sets/walking-and-cycling-tsgb11
Dobbie, L. J., Hydes, T. J., Alam, U., Tahrani, A., & Cuthbertson, D. J. (2022). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
on mobility trends and the associated rise in population-level physical inactivity: Insights from international
mobile phone and national survey data. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living,4, 773742.
Fattorini, L., Pittiglio, G., Federico, B., Pallicca, A., Bernardi, M., Rodio, A. (2012). Workload comparison between hik-
ing and indoor physical activity. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 26(10):2883-2889. doi:10.
1519/JSC.0b013e318242a61e
Freeman, C., Buttery, Y., Waters, D. L., & Van Heezik, Y. (2021). Older adults’domestic green environments: the pref-
erence for flowers. Landscape Research, 46(7), 897–915. doi:10.1080/01426397.2021.1921132
Fudge, C., Grant, M., & Wallbaum, H. (2020). Transforming cities and health: Policy, action, and meaning. Cities &
Health,4(2), 135–151. doi:10.1080/23748834.2020.1792729
Gamble, T., & Walker, I. (2016). Wearing a bicycle helmet can increase risk taking and sensation seeking in adults.
Psychological Science,27(2), 289–294. doi:10.1177/0956797615620784
Ghosn, F., Alama, L., & Azhari, M. (2021). Detecting types of phobia in contemporary architecture. Architecture and
Planning Journal,27(2), 2.
Gila, A., Tomer, T., & Ben-Zion, U. (2011). The role of personality factors in repeated route choice behavior:
Behavioral economics perspective. European Transport,48, 47.
Goldenberg, J. L., & Arndt, J. (2008). The implications of death for health: A terror management health model for
behavioral health promotion. Psychological Review,115(4), 1032–1053. doi:10.1037/a0013326
Guo, Y., & Mell, I. (2021). The planning and design of good quality urban parks in China: The perspectives of tech-
nical professionals. Landscape Research,46(8), 1106–1120. doi:10.1080/01426397.2021.1948517
Healthy Streets for London. (2017). Transport for London. https://content.tfl.gov.uk/healthy-streets-for-london.pdf
Hein, V., M€
u€
ur, M., & Koka, A. (2004). Intention to be physically active after school graduation and its relationship to
three types of intrinsic motivation. European Physical Education Review,10(1), 5–19. doi:10.1177/
1356336X04040618
Hill, J. O., Wyatt, H. R., Reed, G. W., & Peters, J. C. (2003). Obesity and the environment: Where DO WE GO FROM
HERE? Science,299(5608), 853–855. doi:10.1126/science.1079857
Hoogendoorn, S. P., & Bovy, P. H. L. (2004). Pedestrian route-choice and activity scheduling theory and models.
Transportation Research Part B-Methodological,38(2), 169–190. doi:10.1016/S0191-2615(03)00007-9
Jacobs, J. (1961). The death and life of great American cities. New York: Random House.
Jones, R., Pykett, J., & Whithead, M. (2013). Changing behaviours: On the rise of the psychological state.
Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Kahneman, D. (2013). Thinking, fast and slow. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Karlsson, K. M., & Rosengren, B. E. (2012). Physical activity as a strategy to reduce the risk of osteoporosis and fragil-
ity fractures. International Journal of Endocrinology & Metabolism,10(3), 527–563. doi:10.5812/ijem.3309
Kerr, J., Eves, F. F., & Carroll, D. (2001). Getting more people on the stairs: The impact of a new message format.
Journal of Health Psychology,6(5), 495–500. doi:10.1177/135910530100600503
Kohl, H. W., 3rd, Craig, C. L., Lambert, E. V., Inoue, S., Alkandari, J. R., Leetongin, G., & Kahlmeier, S. (2012). The pan-
demic of physical inactivity: Global action for public health. The Lancet),380(9838), 294–305. doi:10.1016/S0140-
6736(12)60898-8
Marques, B., McIntosh, J., & Kershaw, C. (2021). Therapeutic environments as a catalyst for health, well-being and
social equity. Landscape Research,46(6), 766–781. doi:10.1080/01426397.2021.1906851
Marteau, T. M. (2018). Changing minds about changing behaviour. The Lancet,391(10116), 116–117. doi:10.1016/
S0140-6736(17)33324-X
McDermott, M., Oliver, M., Iverson, D., & Sharma, R. (2016). Effective techniques for changing physical activity and
healthy eating intentions and behaviour: A systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Health
Psychology,21(4), 827–841. doi:10.1111/bjhp.12199
McGann, S., Jancey, J., & Tye, M. (2013). Taking the stairs instead: The impact of workplace design standards on
health promotion strategies. The Australasian Medical Journal,6(1), 23–28. doi:10.4066/AMJ.2013.1584
McLeod, S., Babb, C., & Barlow, S. (2020). How to ‘do’a bike plan: Collating best practices to synthesise a maturity
model of planning for cycling. Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives,5, 100130. doi:10.1016/j.trip.
2020.100130
Ministry of Housing, Community and Local Government. (2021). National planning policy framework. London:
GOV.UK.
Muhar, A., Reichhart, T., & Arnberger, A. (2007). A comparison of still images and 3D animations for assessing social
trail use conditions. Forest Snow & Landscape Research,81,77–88.
Neal, D., Vujcic, J., Burns, R., Wood, W., & Devine, J. (2016). Nudging and habit change for open defecation—new
tactics from behavioral science. In Water and Sanitation Program: Working paper. https://archive.ids.ac.uk/clts/
sites/communityledtotalsanitation.org/files/OD_Habit_Nudging.pdf
LANDSCAPE RESEARCH 295
Needham, M. D., Rollins, R. B., & Wood, C. J. (2004). Site-specific encounters, norms and crowding of summer visi-
tors at Alpine ski areas. International Journal of Tourism Research,6(6), 421–437. doi:10.1002/jtr.504
NHS. (2018). Physical activity guidelines for adults. London: National Health System.
Pate, R. R., Pratt, M., Blair, S. N., Haskell, W. L., Macera, C. A., Bouchard, C., …King, A. C. (1995). Physical activity
and public health. A recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American
College of Sports Medicine. JAMA,273(5), 402–407. doi:10.1001/jama.273.5.402
Peer, E., Rotschild, D., Evernden, Z., Gordon, A., & Damer, E. (2021). MTurk, prolific or panels? Choosing the right
audience for online research. Hebrew University of Jerusalem School of Public Policy 2 Microsoft Research, NY U.S.A.
Retrieved from doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2017.01.006
Peeters, M., Megens, C., van den Hoven, E., Hummels, C., & Brombacher, A. (2013). Social stairs: Taking the piano
staircase towards long-term behavioral change. In S. Berkovsky & J. Freyne (Eds.), Persuasive technology (pp.
174–179). Berlin Heidelberg: Springer.
Petty, R. E., & Cacioppo, J. T. (1986). The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion. In R. E. Petty & J. T. Cacioppo
(Eds.), Communication and persuasion: Central and peripheral routes to attitude change (pp. 1–24). New York:
Springer.
Rom, A. (2003). Psychology of pedestrian movement. Moscow: Talk, Moscow Architectural Institute.
Waaler, R., Halvari, H., Skjesol, K., & Ulstad, S. O. (2022). Students’personal desire for excitement and teachers’
autonomy support in outdoor activity: Links to passion, intrinsic motivation, and effort. Journal for Research in
Arts and Sports Education,6(2), 61–80. doi:10.23865/jased.v6.2958
Sallis, J. F., & Owen, N. (2015). Ecological models of health behavior. In Health behavior: Theory, research, and prac-
tice (5th ed., pp. 43–64). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Seneviratne, P. N., & Morrall, J. F. (1985). Analysis of factors affecting the choice of route of pedestrians.
Transportation Planning and Technology,10(2), 147–159. doi:10.1080/03081068508717309
Sennett, R., & Sendra, P. (2020). Designing Disorder: Experiments and Disruptions in the City. London: Verso Books.
Spitzer, R. L., Kroenke, K., Williams, J. B. W., & L€
owe, B. (2006). A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety dis-
order: The GAD-7. Archives of Internal Medicine,166(10), 1092–1097. doi:10.1001/archinte.166.10.1092
Steemers, K. (2015). Architecture for well-being and health. Daylight & Architecture,23,1–22.
Tawfik, A. M., & Rakha, H. A. (2012). Human aspects of route choice behavior: Incorporating perceptions. Learning
trends, latent classes, and personality traits in the modeling of driver heterogeneity in route choice behavior.
Blacksburg: Virginia Tech.
Teixeira, P. J., Carrac¸a, E. V., Markland, D., Silva, M. N., & Ryan, R. M. (2012). Exercise, physical activity, and self-deter-
mination theory: A systematic review. The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity,9,
78–78. doi:10.1186/1479-5868-9-78
Tesler, R., Endevelt, R., & Plaut, P. (2022). Urban forest health intervention program to promote physical activity,
healthy eating, self-efficacy and life satisfaction: Impact on Israeli at-risk youth. Health Promotion International,
37(2). doi:10.1093/heapro/daab145
Thaler, R. H., & Sunstein, C. R. (2009). Nudge: Improving decisions about health, wealth, and happiness (Rev. and
expanded ed). New Haven: Yale University Press.
TRB. (2005). Does the built environment influence physical activity? Examining the evidence (TRB Special report 282).
Committee on Physical Activity, Health, Transportation, and Land Use. Washington: Transportation Research
Board Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.
van der Ham, I. J. M., Faber, A. M. E., Venselaar, M., van Kreveld, M. J., & L€
offler, M. (2015). Ecological validity of vir-
tual environments to assess human navigation ability. Frontiers in Psychology,6, 637. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.
00637
van Dongen, J. D. M., de Groot, M., Rassin, E., Hoyle, R. H., & Franken, I. H. A. (2022). Sensation seeking and its rela-
tionship with psychopathic traits, impulsivity and aggression: A validation of the Dutch Brief Sensation Seeking
Scale (BSSS). Psychiatry, Psychology and Law,29(1), 20–32. doi:10.1080/13218719.2020.1821825
Vernadakis, N., Kouli, O., Tsitskari, E., Gioftsidou, A., & Antoniou, P. (2014). University students’ability-expectancy
beliefs and subjective task values for exergames. Computers & Education,75, 149–161. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.
2014.02.010
Verplanken, B., & Wood, W. (2006). Interventions to break and create consumer habits. Journal of Public Policy &
Marketing,25(1), 90–103. doi:10.1509/jppm.25.1.90
Voloshina, A. S., Kuo, A. D., Daley, M. A., & Ferris, D. P. (2013). Biomechanics and energetics of walking on uneven
terrain. The Journal of Experimental Biology,216(Pt 21):3963–3970. doi:10.1242/jeb.081711
Webb, T. L., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Does changing behavioral intentions engender behavior change? A meta-analysis
of the experimental evidence. Psychological Bulletin,132(2), 249–268. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.132.2.249
Weiner, B., Graham, S., Peter, O., & Zmuidinas, M. (1991). Public confession and forgiveness. Journal of Personality,
59(2), 281–312. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1991.tb00777.x
Wymer, W., Jr., Knowles, P., & Gomes, R. (2021). Nonprofit marketing: Marketing management for charitable and
nongovernmental organizations. Sage Publishing. Retrieved from doi:10.4135/9781483329031
296 A. BOLDINA ET AL.