Reachable but not restable: Proximity, adequacy and journey-level continuity of public rest in an ageing high-density city
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Walking sustains wellbeing in later life, yet whether older residents can stop and rest is rarely measured. We assess public rest in Hong Kong through three complementary properties. Proximity is network distance from a residential unit to the nearest designated resting venue. Adequacy is potential resting space per older resident across overlapping catchments. Continuity is the spacing of rest opportunities across street networks and along modelled shortest paths to everyday destinations; these scenarios are not observed activity spaces. Government facility data, OpenStreetMap and census counts cover 1,746 population units. Across sixteen district frames, proximity and adequacy rankings diverged (Spearman ρ = −0.024, p = .931; n = 16), whereas they covaried across 1,667 smaller urban units (ρ = −0.633); whether distance can stand in for capacity therefore depends on scale. Rankings reversed: Mong Kok had the shortest median distance (60 m) but among the lowest adequacy (2.5 m² per older resident), while Tuen Mun combined a longer distance (195 m) with the highest adequacy (24.5 m²). Within 400 m, 50.5% of older residents had less than 1 m² of designated resting space. Tuen Mun also had the poorest street-network continuity, with 47.9% of street length in gaps exceeding 200 m. At a 200 m tolerance, 73.4% of 444 modelled journeys were rest feasible. The findings show why residence-anchored equity and route-based continuity are complementary when evaluating public rest as support for later-life mobility.
Source: Wellbeing Space and Society
Author: Nuo CHEN
Institution: City University of Hong Kong
Language: English
Topic: Urban Green Space and Health
Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,899
OpenAlex ID: W7223153555