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1. Introduction
Population ageing is an important public health issue and present unique challenges in many countries. By 2050, 66% of the world’s population will live in cities and 90% will reside in Asia and Africa. At least 22% of these populations will comprise older adults aged more than 65 [1,2]. Hence, cities have the responsibilities to balance their role as drivers of economic development and the quality of life of older residents.
Physical activity has been documented to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, obesity, disability, stroke, type II diabetes, colon cancer and breast cancer, and all-cause mortality [3,4,5,6]. The health benefits of physical activity for older adults include improvements in muscle strength, psychological status, well-being and quality of life, cognitive function, social engagement, and social network [6,7,8,9]. According to a report from the World Health Organization, older adults should do at least 150 min of moderate-intensity physical activity or at least 75 min of vigorous-intensity physical activity or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity throughout the week [10].
Factors associated with physical activity in previous studies have typically been focused at the individual level, such as demographics, psychological factors, health status, lifestyle, social support, and resource access [11,12,13]. However, many experts have suggested that health promotion needs to be conducted based on an ecological approach that considers individual and environmental levels [14,15,16,17]. Studies taking an ecological approach started in 2000 and addressed environmental factors only related to personal perceptions, such as crime [18,19] and traffic [18,19,20,21,22]. Recent environmental factors have included density/urbanization [12,23], greenery, scenery aesthetics [24,25], and parks and open space [25,26].
Noticeably, Barton and Grant proposed a health map that indicated the complex relationship among health, the environment (physical/social/economic), and the entire eco-system [27,28]. As the health map shows, the built environment is a key factor in ecological models in terms of influencing people’s behavior and wellbeing, which in turn is directly affected by the planning, design, construction and management of “spaces and channels” [29]. The term built environment in different disciplines has different definitions and interpretations. In health-related research, it comprises the buildings, spaces, and products that are created or modified by people [30,31,32]. Therefore, the built environment would be considered to be urban designs and element...