Enhancing Urban Physical Activity Through Imageable Spaces Introduction It should come as no surprise that the promotion of physical activities in urban environments is crucial to the health and wellness of the communities that live in them. This relationship is symbiotic, as it not only benefits the individual participant but their communities, and the ecology of the city as a whole. Spaces that provide the opportunity to perform physical activity are essential to the community wellbeing, and often motivate residents to participate, improve, and protect their communities1. By focusing on activities such as waking or running that have low barriers to entry to participate in, and curating environments that increase the motivation to participate in these activities, there is the potential to provide a wide variety of urban benefits. So, how can placemaking be approached in a way that promotes outdoor exercise? Often, the goal of a piece of art is to evoke a response from its observer. This can be accomplished through the variations in artistic qualities such as composition, texture, and imagery. It has been noted by many urban planning theorists that the design of the built environment can be viewed as its own unique and distinct form of art. What separates an urban landscape from a Manet painting is complex, as the relationship between the creation and its experiencer are separate entities. The painting is created independently, controlled completely by the vision and expertise of mediums possessed by the artist. And the response is received independently, based on the emotional capabilities of the viewer, flowing the relationship in one direction. 1
Brown, Barbara, Douglas D. Perkins, and Graham Brown. "Place attachment in a revitalizing neighborhood: Individual and block levels of analysis." Journal of environmental psychology 23, no. 3 (2003): 259-271.
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