Speaker
Description
Introduction
Weight stigma—a societal bias linking body weight to personal failure—spatially excludes overweight adolescents from public sports areas by intensifying fears of social judgment. In Shanghai’s Quyang Park, overcrowded and highly visible exercise zones deter this group from physical activity, worsening health disparities. This study examines how spatial configurations perpetuate exclusion and proposes design interventions to balance visibility and privacy, ensuring equitable access to health-promoting environments.
Approach and Methodology
Guided by Space Syntax theory, the study quantifies two core needs of overweight adolescents:
1. Activity Independence: Freedom from surveillance, measured by integration (spatial accessibility). High integration values (1.15–1.39 vs. park average 0.527) indicate overcrowded zones unsuitable for solitary exercise. 、
2. Psychological Security: Reduced exposure to judgment, assessed through three metrics:
• Visual Integration: Privacy levels via visibility from surroundings (scores 2.31–2.71 correlate with low seclusion).
• Choice: Pedestrian traffic density (e.g., runway choice=3502 highlights congestion).
• Intelligibility: Spatial legibility (R=0.28 reflects poor navigational clarity).
Axial analysis and visibility graph analysis (VGA) were applied to six zones (fitness areas, courts, runways) to identify exclusionary patterns.
Based on this assessment framework, we developed targeted optimization strategie.
Results Analysis
1. Activity Independence: Integration values across all sports zones (1.15–1.39 vs. park average 0.527) were significantly elevated, indicating high accessibility but excessive crowding, leaving overweight adolescents without adequate spaces for independent low-intensity exercise.
2. Psychological Security:
• Privacy: Visual integration scores (2.31–2.71) revealed insufficient spatial seclusion, particularly in high-traffic runway areas.
• Movement Flow: Choice values in fitness zones (626.75) and runway areas (peak at 3502) indicated path congestion, intensifying users' self-consciousness.
• Cognitive Clarity: Low intelligibility (R=0.28) demonstrated poor spatial legibility, causing navigation difficulties and anxiety.
3. Intervention Strategies
• Moderate Density Reduction: Restructured path layouts to lower integration values in fitness areas (from 1.20 to 0.93), creating semi-enclosed independent exercise spaces.
• Activity-Based Flow Segregation: Divided runways into dedicated exercise paths and transit corridors, reducing cross-traffic (runway choice value decreased from 3502 to 2171).
• Enhanced Intelligibility: Implemented landmarks and wayfinding systems to improve spatial cognition (target R>0.5).
Discussion and Conclusion
This study demonstrates that spatial equity for overweight adolescents hinges on rebalancing visibility and seclusion. Lowering integration and choice values created “buffer zones” to mitigate scrutiny, directly countering stigma’s psychological impacts. Improved intelligibility reduced navigation anxiety, fostering independent use.
The findings emphasize that inclusive design must prioritize marginalized groups’ unique needs over generic accessibility standards. While spatial interventions effectively redistributed flows, future work should integrate real-time behavioral tracking and survey data to validate Space Syntax metrics dynamically. For instance, simulating pedestrian movements post-intervention could verify reduced congestion, while user feedback on privacy perceptions would strengthen the correlation between visual integration and psychological security. Such mixed-method approaches would enhance the robustness of spatial equity evaluations.
By translating spatial analysis into actionable design, this framework offers a scalable model for transforming exclusionary public spaces into equitable, health-promoting environments.
References
[1]Fathi, S. et al. (2020) ‘The role of urban morphology design on enhancing physical activity and public health’, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(7), p. 2359.
[2]Thedinga, H.K., Zehl, R. and Thiel, A. (2021) ‘Weight stigma experiences and self-exclusion from sport and exercise settings among people with obesity’, BMC Public Health, 21(1), p. 565.
| Keywords | Weight Stigma；Space Inclusion；Spatial Equity；Space Syntax |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
